Though the taxes are “designed to be collected at the manufacturer level, only the most naive would doubt that multinational corporations would just pass the cost on to the consumer in the form of higher prices, as is routine.
Items disposed of in wastewater, such as toothpaste, cosmetics, toilet paper and cooking oil will be subject to a 3% excise tax, while water beverages will be hit with a 4% tax, “because these products wind up in the water stream and require clean up by sewage treatment plants, according to the bill.
The legislation also cites “climate change mitigation as a justification for imposing the taxes. The Feds’ new feeding frenzy will rake in around $10 billion dollars a year.
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˜SEC. 4171. IMPOSITION OF TAX. (click to expand)
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˜(a) Water-based Beverage- There is hereby imposed on the sale of any container of water-based beverage by the manufacturer, producer, or importer thereof a tax equal to 4 cents per container of such beverage which is 5 gallons or less. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the manufacturer or producer is the entity that puts the beverage into the container subject to the tax under such sentence.
˜(b) Water Disposal Product- There is hereby imposed on the sale of any water disposal product by the manufacturer, producer, or importer thereof a tax equal to 3 percent of the price for which so sold.
˜(c) Pharmaceutical Tax- There is hereby imposed on the sale of any pharmaceutical product by the manufacturer, producer, or importer thereof a tax equal to 0.5 percent of the price for which so sold.
˜(d) Termination- The taxes imposed by this section shall not apply to any production, manufacture, or importation after December 31, 2015.
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