oh yeah...Taxes are levied on goods repeatedly and all levels of government in the US. the basic rule in the US is "every time money and/or goods change hands the government gets a piece of the action" Here are a few examples...
at the federal level:
my dad has worked all his life to build a very successful chain of auto parts stores. He's paid revenue taxes, all this time. we have had to do some significant estate planning to insure that when he dies we will be able to pay the estate tax (death tax) without selling off all the assets.
at the state level:
when I buy a new car I pay a sales tax based on the purchase price. in order to operate the vehicle on the road I have to pay an annual excise tax to maintain my vehicle registration. when I sell the vehicle the buyer has to pay a sales tax. when he sells it the next buyer pays a sales tax.
and my favorite, at the county level...
every time a home is sold an excise tax is paid to the county. next to the commission you pay to the realtor (if you use one) it's the largest cost to the seller in the purchase/sale process.
and with all of these taxes we don't have socialized medicine. maybe we need to start charging import duties on packages entering the US so we can raise our standard of care :roll:
