Alaska Trying to Tax Cruise Lines

[rjg41]

The residents of Alaska:

 

1) Have no income tax

2) Have no state sales tax

3) Got the highest percentage of federal money back per tax dollar they send to Washington. They have been #1 in this department most of the past 20 years and never less than #4 out of the 50 states. We all know about the bridge to nowhere.

4) Every resident, adults and children, gets a yearly payment from an oil fund ($846pp in 2005)

5) the resident tax burden (all state and local taxes) as a percentage of per capita income is the lowest of all 50 states (2005)

 

Now, per Cruise News Daily a ballot initiative (put on the ballot by a petition of Alaskans) will appear on the ballot in Alaska for the August 22, 2006 election.

 

Voters will be voting on a package of four tax measures:

 

1) to add a $46 tax on every cruise passenger.

2) add another $4 tax on every cruise passenger to cover the cost of an Ocean Ranger on each cruise ship to monitor its emissions

3) put a 33% tax on the cruise lines' gambling operations while in Alaska

4) make cruise lines subject to state corporate income tax, even though their vessels are foreign-flagged.

 

This from a state whose residents pride themselves on self-reliance.

[The Big Booper]

This is called "Soak the tourists, they don't vote here". Alaska has learned from Florida and Nevada ( why do you think Florida and Nevada are 2 of the 7 states with no personal income tax). :rolleyes:

 

Dave the CPA

[rjg41]

Dave, we live in Florida and I pay the same sales tax as tourists. The only tax that you could argue is really tourist only is the hotel and rental tax. However, when I go to Disney World or some other place and stay I pay the same taxes as everyone else. When it comes to taxes vs per capita income the differance between Alaska and most of the rest of the states is significant. The people of Alaska do not pay anywhere near their fair share of their states expenses compared to most states including Florida and Nevada. See the chart. http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/taxesbystate2005/index.html

[The Big Booper]

Alaska has humongous royalty income from natural resource extraction.

 

Florida has car rental taxes and hotel taxes which largely impact the tourists and there are LOTS of tourists. These were the areas that I was thinking about.

 

As Florida residents you can buy yearly passes to the Disney Parks, is that correct?

 

tax season marches on :eek:

[The Big Booper]

We live in NY, at the top of the chart :mad: And rent out our place in Florida for now (Boynton Beach area).

[friedshrimp]

As Florida residents you can buy yearly passes to the Disney Parks, is that correct?

 

tax season marches on :eek:

 

Yes, that is correct. There are 2 types of passes. The first is the Annual pass. Its is good for 365 days after activation, is used as a hopper pass. It also includes parking (at $ 8.00/day now). There is also a Seasonal pass. It work the same as the Annual with the following exceptions: Christmas and New Years blocked out, Easter blocked out, and 8 weeks of summer blocked out (usually middle June through middle August). Also, it does not have parking included. Current pricing (you can buy the voucher anytime and reddem it for the actual ticket on your first visit, but you must show Florida residency upon redeeming) is about $340 for Annual and about $230 for Seassonal. On the military bases you can subtract about $35. Another twist they have added to the passes is the premimum versions of each for about $ 100 more. It adds unlimited visits (within season) to Typhoon Lagaoon and Blizard Beach water parks, Disney Quest, and Pleasure Island.

[rjg41]

What has season passes have to do with taxes?

[Schplinky]

Alaska will get too greedy and the ships will port less there and more in Canada. The government happily subsidises the piers and industry because they see the jobs created by tourism.

[elleluv]

This isn't the first time the question of whether to tax cruise ship pax has come up... every couple of years this is revisited as a possible method of solving the State's budget woes... they haven't been able to get it to pass yet...

 

btw... we know we have it pretty good up here, we're not stopping anyone from coming to join us.... ;)

[friedshrimp]

What has season passes have to do with taxes?

 

Absolutely nothing. Was just being kind enough to answer someone's question. Is that okay or should I have berated him being for being off-topic?

[Firefighterhoop]

This is called "Soak the tourists, they don't vote here". Alaska has learned from Florida and Nevada ( why do you think Florida and Nevada are 2 of the 7 states with no personal income tax). :rolleyes:

 

Dave the CPA

 

I have to agree, with the point made here, not the action. All it will do is end up taking some tourism away, but 50 bucks isn't going to deter enough people away to make a counter point.

[jrm9999]

I can accept the $46.00 and $4.00 tax. However I don't see where Alaska has a right to the casino profits unless the casino is actually open while in Alaska (aren't they closed in port?). Maybe cruise lines would just take the ship into international waters each night and avoid this. I also don't agree they are entitled to the corporate taxes for ships unless it is consistent with all travel, including airlines. They may have a good case however on the cruise tours.

[friedshrimp]

I can accept the $46.00 and $4.00 tax. However I don't see where Alaska has a right to the casino profits unless the casino is actually open while in Alaska (aren't they closed in port?). Maybe cruise lines would just take the ship into international waters each night and avoid this. I also don't agree they are entitled to the corporate taxes for ships unless it is consistent with all travel, including airlines. They may have a good case however on the cruise tours.

 

Are the casinos operating in the 12 mile limit? Possibly within the Inside Passage, they can't get out of the 12 mile limit (into International waters) so Alaska thinks they have the right to tax those proceeds? Not saying that's right, just maybe their reasoning.

[NengEuis]

The initiative will not be on the ballot until November.

 

As an Alaska Resident, I will be voting for it.

 

If you actually had to eat the fish that came out of the water in that area, I submit that you would vote for it too. It requires cruise ships to get wastewater discharge permits. This initiative has been around for over 2 years.

 

I would urge you to get the facts, and not get all of your information from Cruise News Daily.

 

Also, some cities in Alaska do have a sales tax, and not everyone gets the a dividend check. But I digress.

 

[Lewdog]

Alaska is currently trying to get widespread gamling legalized so Iwould assume that is why they want to tax the ship's casinos.

 

$50 per cruiser and the other propsed taxes are quite minimal when it is used to help protect the natural resources that Alaska relys on for its income.

 

Many tourist destinations have toourism taxes. I live in a tourist town that has a huge tourism tax that I have to pay as well. Everyone who lives here does, but we also rely on that income as that is our ONLY industry here.

[Schplinky]

Yes, but Alaskans benifit from the tens of thousands of people the ships bring. I've never understood why these tourist taxes target people who are coming to support an economy that would not be as robust without tourists.

 

As for getting news about Alask from the cruise news, well, for some, that's our interest in your area. No worries, there are lots of places willing to take my money without reaching too far into my pocket.

[rjg41]

The initiative will not be on the ballot until November.

 

As an Alaska Resident, I will be voting for it.

 

If you actually had to eat the fish that came out of the water in that area, I submit that you would vote for it too. It requires cruise ships to get wastewater discharge permits. This initiative has been around for over 2 years.

 

I would urge you to get the facts, and not get all of your information from Cruise News Daily.

 

Also, some cities in Alaska do have a sales tax, and not everyone gets the a dividend check. But I digress.

 

 

Discharge permits, super; you have everyones support. The on board person to monitor emissions, fine. $4pp to pay for that person, that's about $8,000 per ship. Nice salary, even considering overhead costs, for less than a weeks work.

 

-What does the other $46pp tax for each passenger have to do with discharge permits?

-What does taxing 33% of casino revenues have to do with discharge permits?

-What does taxing cruise line corporate profits have to do with discharge permits?

 

None of the facts about the good deal that Alaska residents have came from Cruise News Daily. They come from non-profit data sources on the internet that publish this data about all states.

 

Never mind the oil fund, Alaska is subsidized by the US Government more than any other state, over many years, as it has gotten back a greater precentage of its' federal taxes than any other state by far. In 2003, the latest year I can get data for, Alaska got $1.89 in federal funds for every $1.00 of federal tax they paid. Wouldn't we all want that return? We'd all like a bridge to no where project as well.

 

Here is another fact:

 

--Only 25 of Alaska's 161 municipalities levy a property tax.

Anybody else live anywhere in the United States where there are that percentage of muncilpalities that do not charge a property tax?

 

Add that all to, no state income tax, no state sales tax, only a few large municipalities with a sales tax.

 

By the way the cruise industry sends about $800 million to the state annually through taxes, sales, shore excursions and visitors staying in hotels.

 

On the environment, why is Alaska insisting on more oil drilling and insisting on building a new natural gas pipeline across the state at a cost far higher then it going through Canada? The cost of that pipe line will make the natural gas from Alaska much more expensive than it would be if the line went through Canada with the lower 48 paying the bill.

 

While I have no doubt about your concern for the environment, on the grand scale it sounds like it is all about M-O-N-E-Y.

 

P.S. Crusie News Daily obviously misread the primary election date which is August 22, as the general election day.

[Nancyquilts]

Well, it's cold here, so maybe I can warm up with some flaming.

It costs lots more to fill up the car, restaurant prices keep climbing, taxes on airplanes keep climbing, and we won't discuss gas/electric prices. Would I mind an extra $10 per port to visit Alaska? Nope. And after Vancouver, Victoria and Prince Rupert, we won't have much choice in Canada. Tho' I remember visiting Alert Bay on a ship many years ago. Nancy

[elleluv]

Although I'm not disputing your facts.... I would say that some of them are skewed to make your point... for example....

 

Here is another fact:

 

--Only 25 of Alaska's 161 municipalities levy a property tax.

Anybody else live anywhere in the United States where there are that percentage of muncilpalities that do not charge a property tax?

 

I'm not sure if these numbers are exactly correct (25 out of 161), but I would agree that there are several "municipalities" that don't pay property taxes.

 

I quickly pulled up the poplulation for 8 municipalities (out of the 25) that I know for a fact do have property taxes. Those 8 municipalities comprise almost 90% of the population of the state. That's not even counting the other 17 municipalities that by your numbers do charge a property tax.

 

I would be very surprised if any of us (that includes me!) would be willing to live in those "municipalities" without property taxes. They are mostly bush communities with very limited services. People living in those areas don't pride themselves on self-reliance... they are self-reliant!!

 

BTW... Although there isn't a state sales tax, we do pay a 6% local sales tax where I live....

[rjg41]

This is not a personal issue and you as I are entitled to our opinions. The facts are the facts. There is no skewing. They just all add up.

 

The most glaring facts are that:

 

-Alaska gets back far more from the federal government than it pays in federal taxes. The locals braged about when we were there and your congressmen brag about.

 

-Alaska's state and local taxes are far less a percentage of the per capita income than other states.

 

-Alaska wants to build with federal money(my tax dollars), a bridge to no where

 

-Alaska wants to drill for more oil and build a gas pipeline that has a far cheaper solution, all with federal help (my tax dollars)

 

-and now an group of Alaskan citizens have decided they want cruise line companies and ultimately cruise passengers to pay even more money so they don't have to raise taxes.

 

How about the citizens of Alaska get a ballot initiative going:

 

-to stop the bridge to no where

 

-to stop the drilling and waste of money on the gas pipe line and to protect the environment or reject all federal funding of these projects and pay for it from the oil fund. Spend money to make money.

 

-to say they do not want an unfair share of other US tax payers' money

 

-to pay a more equitible part of their income to support their state and local governments

 

.....then a increased cruise tax (more reasonable in size) might be justified.

[Schplinky]

Hey, I don't mind a small tax but $50 per passenger means that Alaska is holding each ship ransom for an average of a hundred grand. Whatever happened to innovation? I guess piracy is what passes for developing your own skills and industry.

[Retired not Expired]

I can understand Alaska’s side of this. I live in a tourist town of 5000 to 7000 citizens according to who you want to listen to. We have seven million visitors a year. Yes, we want them here as it is our economy. But we could not afford to have them here unless they helped to pay for the infrastructure and protecting the environment More roads, water, sewage, police, etc. Imagine 50,000 people in 38 theatres all heading for the restrooms during intermission. (They call it high tide down at the sewage plants.)

 

Our town also has a lot more employees than a normal town of this size. We have to make sure all the new buildings are safe and the environment is protected as well as run a town with 50,000 to 125,000 people at various times even though only a small amount live here.

 

The average tourist will pay somewhere between $5 to $10 per day in fees and extra taxes according to how many shows, other entertainment, and meals they have, as well as the hotel. It’s a fact of going to a tourist town.

 

As fragile as our environment is here, Alaska’s is even more fragile. It must be protected. I’m not saying everything they are asking for is right, but with Alaska becoming much more popular as a tourist destination, it is only fair for those of us that want to go there to help pay for all the new infrastructure as well as protecting that pristine environment.

[Lewdog]

I've never understood why these tourist taxes target people who are coming to support an economy that would not be as robust without tourists.

 

You just answered your own question.

 

You have now heard from 2 people that live in tourist towns (and amazingly close to each other) we live in these town and pay these taxes EVERYDAY.

It is not just tourist paying tourism taxes, it is the residents that live there.

[rjg41]

Hey, I don't mind a small tax but $50 per passenger means that Alaska is holding each ship ransom for an average of a hundred grand. Whatever happened to innovation? I guess piracy is what passes for developing your own skills and industry.

 

Add in the 33% casino revenue tax and taxing corporate profits, nice windfall.

 

What does the sale taxes, port taxes, etc. paid by cruise passengers pay for now? Nothing? How about all the jobs the cruise line creates?

 

As for it getting to crowded, the last one to move to an area always wants to be the last one to move in. The non-native people in Alaska right now didn't seem to mind the "crowding" they created when they moved there and their impact on the environment and the native people. I wonder if the native people of Alaska had had a chance to vote if they would have let the non-natives in.

 

I certainly support protecting the environment but, again if the environment is so fragile and needs protection why do the Alaskans support:

 

1) A bridge to no where that will open up unspolied land to development

2) Drilling in the Artic Refuge

3) A huge new pipe line across Alaska for Alaskan natural gas that has a much cheaper route across Canada, where it won't impact the Alaskan environment.

[mikesteg]

You just answered your own question.

 

You have now heard from 2 people that live in tourist towns (and amazingly close to each other) we live in these town and pay these taxes EVERYDAY.

 

It is not just tourist paying tourism taxes, it is the residents that live there.

 

I believe we're talking about taxes which are specifically targeted at non-residents (i.e. tourists). For instance, a 19% hotel or rental car tax. Are you saying you live in a hotel and drive around a rental car, thereby paying these taxes EVERYDAY? If so, certainly you are in the minority.