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1 Justin Higginbottom, Bag Taxes Disappointing in Debut 1 (2010)

handle is hein.taxfoundation/ffccexz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FISCAL FACT May 7, 2010 No. 224 Bag Taxes Disappointing in Debut By Justin Higginbottom Introduction Since January 2010, shoppers in Washington, D.C. have had to pay five cents on most paper or plastic bags at grocery and convenience stores.' In early results, shoppers are often unwilling to pay, so carry-out bag use is greatly reduced, revenue from the tax is low, and the mayor has suggested transferring what little has been collected out of an environmental fund into a general fund. Whether the citizens consider the new tax a success depends on which of the many, often contradictory purposes they remember from the debate over passage. In at least 17 jurisdictions nationwide, bag tax proposals are pending (see table). Sometimes they are pitched as fees and sometimes as taxes, with important rhetorical, political and legal ramifications. In almost all cases, proposed bag taxes do not come close to meeting the definition of a fee. Even when pitched more honestly as taxes, they are likely to fall short of ambitious environmental clean-up goals. Also, bag taxes cause unintended effects, such as stimulating bulk purchases of plastic bags, perhaps of a type that would cause equal environmental damage. And bag taxes invariably get caught up in the political process in which special interests in business and government are served more than the public's interest. Whether assessed theoretically or practically, bag taxes are not a promising development in tax policy. Exaggerated, Contradictory Claims for Bag Taxes The bag tax legislation enacted in Washington, D.C. was entitled the Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Act. Pictures of the litter-strewn river and its tributaries served as campaign posters for the new tax, and city officials promised that the law would decrease bag litter generally, and that the additional revenue would pay for environmental education campaigns and cleaning up the Anacostia River. ' http://dccouncil.us/lims/legislation.aspx?LegNo-B 18-0150 Justin Higginbottom is a state policy analyst at the Tax Foundation. FOUNDATION

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