Never knew about this Tax!

Ominivision1 · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 6:06 pm Post subject: Never knew about this Tax!

I was out this afternoon just plinking at a buddies farm and his neighbor came over and we started talking. He moved from Chicago to Iowa 25 years ago and he's been following the purposed tax on ammo and guns in Cook Co. Ill. As we were talking he said the tax on the gun purchased passed but the one purposed for ammo did not pass.

He said then, it's 3 taxes the people in Cook Co ILL will be paying now for a new gun purchase. That statement caught my attention and I said 3? He replied yup,

1. Sales tax on new firearms
2. New Cook Co. gun tax

And the 3rd one was that we all pay for when purchasing a new firearm, archery, accessories, ammo. Its called the "Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act" Shocked

I told him wow, I did not know that, he said it was passed in 1937 under FDR's presidency.

One of the guys went in his house and grabbed his sales sheet from his newly purchased Rem M700 and all it showed was the sales tax. We then went on line and sure enough we found it and and ts a 10% tax on handguns. For us bow hunters buying bows, arrows and accessories the tax is 11%. Shotguns & Rifles, accessories are also 11%.

www.fws.gov/laws/lawsd...AWILD.HTML

Now none of us talking knew if the money comes out during manufacturing, distribution or ?? Anyone have an idea?

Edit: Just found out its an excise tax. www.nraila.org/news-is...he-hu.aspx

slimjim · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 6:28 pm Post subject: Re: Never knew about this Tax!

Thanks for the information, OV1. it's good the ammunition tax didn't pass. Will be interesting to see if the gun tax spreads.

Vince · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 9:59 pm Post subject: Re: Never knew about this Tax!

slimjim wrote:

Thanks for the information, OV1. it's good the ammunition tax didn't pass. Will be interesting to see if the gun tax spreads.

Oh, it will spread Slim...Governments are greedy and the precedence has been set.

SingleShotLover · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:08 pm Post subject: Re: Never knew about this Tax!

The ammunition tax would have amounted to 5 cents per round. One of the aldermen said that it was dropped since in some cases the tax would exceed the price of the ammo.

Ya' think? That would make a "budget" box of .22 LR ammo (550 count) cost $27.50 in taxes alone!

Suzanne · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 7:21 am Post subject: Re: Never knew about this Tax!

Well SSLover if government wants to tax you for something, the higher price they can get away with the better. Since when does government care about the price of anything. In 1960 a pack of cigarettes was about 35 cents no matter where you bought them. Marlboro pack of 20 in Oregon today is $5.59, but in Manhattan you'll pay around $11.00. Actual cost to produce a pack is around 10 cents. Granted there is company profit involved but taxes are about 55% of your cost. Imagine if ammo were taxed like that!

Bushmaster · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 7:33 am Post subject: Re: Never knew about this Tax!

In 1937 the sportsmen of the united states made an agreement with the government that they [the sportsmen] would volunteer to pay a tax on sproting equipment to be used to buy land for hunting and fishing use. This tax is also on fishing gear too. If the tax funds are used as agreed. It's a good tax for sportsmen.

We saw it used here in Missouri about two months ago to purchase land from a farmer to be added to the hunting and recreation land already there. ie National Forests.

Ominivision1 · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 8:36 am Post subject: Re: Never knew about this Tax!

I agree that the "Pittman-Robertson" act is good for the outdoor sportsman and it benefits us sportsman as long as the money is going where its suppose to be going. I did a little reading up on this and apparently during the Clinton administration, a few things were changed and it took an act of congress to set this act back on track.

www.google.com/url?sa=...C_PvGA4eqQ

Vince · Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 1:00 am Post subject: Re: Never knew about this Tax!

WOW Suz...that expensive for a durrie mate.

I remember back in 1964 we were paying 39 cents for a 20 pack of Marlboro, 25 cents for a pack of 12 Peter Stuyvesant and about $1.50 for a 2oz pack of Drum cigarette tobacco. Today Marlboro are about $17 for a pack of 20, haven't seen PS for years and its over $30 for a pack of Drum tobacco. They now have packs of 50 cigarettes here and I don't even want to think how expensive they are...boy am I glad I gave up smoking on 14 Feb 1987.

The bulk of the cost is all taxes and excise that goes to the Govt to help pay for the smoking induced illnesses...allegedly.

WildHorse · Member Joined: Feb 17, 2005 Posts: 184 Location: Nebraska

The P&R Act was to help the conservation program in the United States.
This tax is paid by the manufacturer to the Fed when the product is purchased by the distributors.
It is passed on to the consumer as a cost of doing business.
There is a lot to the Act but this is it in a nutshell.
Hope this helps.

English Mike · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 6:07 pm Post subject: Re: Never knew about this Tax!

Pittman-Robertson tax applies to ammunition too, though I'm not sure it does to reloading components.
It was brought in to help rebuild the US' wildlife population that had been decimated by unregulated hunting & over harvesting during the Depression.
From what I've seen & read, the $ has been to a great extent spent as intended, unlike most other government schemes.
I guess that's because P-R funds are watched over closely by several pro hunting Senators & Representatives & a slew of hunting organisations.