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| Articles about Abusive |
| Virginia Bicyclist Hit With ÂAbusive Driver Fee Tax | | 2008-01-21 00:00:00 | | We've been following Virginia's new tax on traffic offenses, which went into effect January 1. They are another example of legislators targeting random activities for punitive taxation, solely to raise revenue. Other recent examples include cigarettes, alcohol (to fund public transit), bottled water, and even video games (to fund juvenile detention facilities). Because the purpose of the surcharges is to raise money, rather than deter behavior or recoup the cost of administration, they are rightly called taxes, not fees. And they aren't small; a pregnant woman rushing to the hospital (57 mph in a 35 mph zone) was hit with a $1,050 abusive driver tax on top of the usual $100 traffic fine. Now, a bicyclist has been ordered by the Newport News district court to cough up the $1,050 surcharge for going too fast on his 18-speed Huffy:Bicyclist Kajuan Cornish, 19, has not accumulated a bad driving record because he does not own an automobile. That did not stop Newport News Police Officer George Evans for writing up Cornish as he pedaled down Warwick Boulevard near Denbigh Boulevard on December 27. Cornish was headed back to work after taking a lunch break. WAVY-TV has more of the silliness: Cornish says his reckless driving ticket might one day be funny, if it weren't so confusing."I get some people who laugh," he says, "and I get some people, like me, that are lost."He reads his ticket out loud."Year? None. Make? None. Type? Bike. License? None. State? None." Cornish may be among the last who have to fight the surcharges. They're in court on an Equal Protection Clause challenge, and the Governor recently conceded that it's time to repeal them.More on Virginia tax issues here. | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Virginia Governor Open to Repeal of Abusive Driver Surcharges | | 2008-01-15 00:00:00 | | We've written before on Virginia's "abusive driver fees" and "civil remedial fees," and why they are just a tax on traffic offenses. Because the revenue goes to general state spending, they are properly called a "tax" and not "fees." We've covered how this is an example of politicians targeting easy revenue sources for punitive taxes, the public outcry over the huge assessments, and finally, the pending court challenges.After defending the surcharges for months, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (D) may be ready to give up on them. At the end of yesterday's State of the State Address, he said he would sign a repeal:The imposition of higher fees on drivers who commit serious traffic offenses was designed to both increase transportation revenue and encourage safer driving habits. After six months, neither goal has come to pass. The abusive driver fees will not generate the amount of revenue we had hoped. And neither the number of traffic tickets issued nor the tragic number of deaths on Virginia highways last year indicate that the fees have improved highway safety. Virginia citizens in huge numbers have told us that the fees should be repealed. We should listen to them. I hope that this session, you will send to my desk a bill fully repealing the abusive driver fees. | | By: Tax Policy Blog | | |
| | Insurance Regulators Focus on Abusive Sales Practices | | 2002-12-18 08:08:00 | | State insurance regulators are focusing their efforts on a short list of five consumer problems areas related to the improper sale of variable annuities and life insurance. The problem areas include: 1) 1035 exchanges, 2) variable annuities inside of qualified accounts, 401(k)s or IRAs, 3) failure to fully disclose costs and fees, 4) comparing sub-accounts to mutual funds, and 5) improper or
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