MONTPELIER – After a controversial decision to crack down on sales tax from online retailers such as Amazon.com, the state of Vermont has decided to also begin collecting taxes on gifts from Santa Claus, starting this Christmas. The move is expected to bring in significant revenue, although how the state plans to collect the tax has not been fully fleshed out.
“Santa may be giving those gifts away for free, but they still have value,” said state Representative Grover Reacher. “This is a huge, multi-billion dollar industry that is getting away with not paying anything to the state of Vermont. We will begin collecting a tax on those gifts. How Santa chooses to absorb those costs is his business. And once we find the North Pole, you can be sure we will find a way to collect.”
Reacher also went on to explain that this tax is not technically a sales tax, but that we probably wouldn’t understand the nuances of the plan. He declined to explain further, or to provide details as to what kind of tax he believes this is.
Mr. Claus was not available for comment, but an employee of the North Pole who spoke on condition of anonymity suggested that children may wake up to find a small tax bill attached to each of their Christmas presents on the morning of the 25th.
“We’ve got to defray the costs somehow,” said the source. “It won’t be much, couple bucks per kid at the most, but Santa doesn’t even use money. How else are we going to pay? The last thing Mr. C. needs right now is an audit.”
After the recent allowance tax, some children are worried that they won’t be able to pay the additional tax on the gifts. The North Pole is reportedly hoping to delay the tax payment until the end of fiscal year 2018, leaving the children a whole year to come up with the cash, which they can leave alongside the milk and cookies next Christmas Eve to ensure continued gift delivery.
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