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Letter
to the editor from the 2-6-2003
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Gross
receipts?
To
the editor:
I am the owner
of a Chevron gas station and convenience store, and I have
been a Nevada resident
since 1959. I have also worked in gaming for 20 years, and
currently hold a gaming license. I am
very concerned that current lawmakers, the media, casino operators
and consultants have failed to
grasp the economic danger that certain increased taxes will
create.
Whenever you tax a product or service before there is a net
profit, it is equivalent to a sales tax. This
so-called gross receipts tax, however, cannot be collected
at the point of sale such as the sales tax, and makes the
retailer raise prices to offset this new added tax. The only
fair business tax is a tax on net revenues after all expenses
are deducted. While this net revenue tax will not generate
all of the dollars Nevada needs, it will certainly help.
We should take careful notice that Nevada casinos do not pay
a gross receipts tax on money wagered.
Casinos are allowed to deduct all related coin pays and jackpot
payouts before paying taxes on money wagered in slot and poker
machines. If businesses were proposing a gross receipts tax
on money wagered, the casino industry would be just as upset
as the business owners.
The gross receipts tax is just not a fair tax. If I continue
to see the casino owners and the governor
promote this gross receipts tax on business owners, I will
make sure that every business owner insist that the casino
owners pay the gross receipts tax at the same rate as the
business owners. That will surely kill any proposed legislation
concerning the gross receipts tax.
The mining industry in Nevada would also be crippled by any
type of gross receipts tax, which is
why this gross receipts tax was defeated in the 1992 Legislature.
Greg
Campbell
LAUGHLIN
Copyright © 2003 Las Vegas Review-Journal
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