I’ve been doing a little reading lately through South Carolina’s tax exemptions. Now I’m not talking about the ones that make good sense. The ones that help seniors, or medicine, or people who genuinely need the help. Those belong there and nobody with any common sense would argue otherwise.
I’m talking about the ones that make you stop, lean back in your chair, and say, “Well now… how in the world did that get in there?”
Over the years, South Carolina’s tax code has collected exemptions the same way a kitchen junk drawer collects rubber bands and old batteries. One at a time. Quietly. Usually because somebody asked for it and somebody else said yes.
If you read down the list long enough, you start running into things like:
• Wrapping paper used by retailers
• Newspaper twine and tying materials
• Certain packaging supplies used by businesses
• Advertising materials and newspaper inserts
• Various specialty materials used in distribution
Now most folks walking around South Carolina have never heard of any of this. They just go to the store, pay the sales tax on what they buy, and assume everybody else is doing the same.
But behind the scenes, our tax code has carved out hundreds of little exceptions over the years.
Each one probably sounded reasonable at the time.
Somebody stood up in a committee room and explained why their product or their industry needed a special exemption. Maybe it would help business. Maybe it would make things easier.
And one by one those exemptions made their way into law.
Individually they may not seem like much. But when you stack them up over decades, they start to add up.
And when the tax base gets chipped away piece by piece, guess who ends up carrying the load?
The everyday taxpayer.
The family buying groceries.
The parents buying school supplies.
The young couple trying to furnish their first home.
They don’t have lobbyists walking the halls asking for special treatment.
They just pay the bill.
Now this isn’t about picking on business. Businesses matter and plenty of tax provisions serve a real purpose.
But when you reach the point where wrapping paper and newspaper twine are getting special treatment in the tax code, it might be time to step back and take a good long look at the list.
Because tax policy ought to pass what I call the front porch test.
If you can’t explain it in plain English while sitting on the porch with your neighbors, it probably needs another look.
And sometimes the best thing government can do is open the drawer, pull everything out, and ask a simple question.
Does this still make sense for the people of South Carolina?
If the answer is no, then maybe it’s time to clean out the drawer.
WHILE I BREATHE 