Bagel with Tax

New York tax officials in Albany have assessed an 8 cent tax on bagels that are sliced or eaten at New York bagel stores.

As reported in The Wall Street Journal:

"State tax officials, under orders from cash-strapped Albany to ramp up their audit and compliance efforts, have begun to enforce one of the more obscure distinctions within the state's sales tax law.

"In New York, the sale of whole bagels isn't subject to sales tax. But the tax does apply to "sliced or prepared bagels (with cream cheese or other toppings)," according to the state Department of Taxation and Finance. And if the bagel is eaten in the store, even if it's never been touched by a knife, it's also taxed.

"Kenneth Greene, the owner of 33 Bruegger's Bagel franchises throughout New York, says the state demanded that he start charging taxes on all bagels, except for those that remain intact and are consumed off premises, and forced him to pay a 'significant' sum in taxes that the state estimated he owed.  Mr. Greene says the extra charge, about eight cents a bagel, depending on the local rate, filled his customers with boiling rage. 'They felt we were nickel-and-diming them. They thought we were charging them to slice a bagel,' he said.

"To clear things up, he posted signs at the cashier informing customers that it was Albany, not Bruegger's, to blame. 'We apologize for this change and share in your frustration on this additional tax,' the signs read."

This is from the same Albany bureaucrats who have recently taxed cigarettes to $10 a pack and are now proposing to tax sugar and salt to gain "tax windfalls" under the guise of public health.  Suggestion to Albany bureaucrats with nanny state syndrome . . . slice the salaries and benefits of the two million union workers in New York.