debate U.S. Taxing and requiring permits on children that mow lawns, shovel snow, etc.

[Eric Lyon]

The following article is crazy and sad at the same time. It's actually happening all over the U.S. and not just NJ. Where children's parents are being fined upwards of $100 to $1k for their children not having a permit to operate a lemonade stand, snow cone stand, garage sale, lawn mowing, tree trimming, snow shoveling, raking leaves, baby sitting, etc.. Anything a child used to be able to do for some spending cash as they learn about the value of money is now a taxable income according to the government. Sad, but true...

What are your thoughts on this type of enforcement?:
1. Should teens between the ages of 13 to 18 be taxed and forced to buy permits to do what used to be untaxed?
2. Is the Government getting too involved in profiting off child labor even though it would be illegal for a parent or company to profit off it in the U.S.?

The free market is under attack in America today. It's so under attack that teenagers looking to make some extra money shoveling snow can now be stopped in their tracks and forced to pay erroneous permit fees.

That's the case for Matt Molinari and Eric Schnepf, two 18-year-olds from Bound Brook, New Jersey. On January 27, they traveled door to door handing out homemade flyers offering their snow-shoveling services. The weather forecast predicted several inches of snow the next day, and school had already been canceled. The boys were looking to serve their neighbors and make some extra cash.

The permit cost $450 and is good for 180 days. Fees like this make any small service not worth it at all. Imagine making a hundred dollars shoveling snow one day only to be forced to fork over all of the earnings, plus $350 extra dollars from your savings account just to satisfy the local government permit masters.

Full Article: http://www.naturalnews.com/048868_free_market_snow_shoveling_entrepreneurism.html

 

[snowbird]

Personally I feel it is foolish to tax income on children who are running a lemonade stand, etc. The amount of money these kids are making is minimal. However, with that said, if your talking about learning the true value of a dollar, taxes will always be a part of that equation and the child might as well learn early on what tax is all about. What is most interesting though is that a minor is not of legal age to enter binding contractual agreements on their own. So it is almost like the government is playing two sides of the fence here. On one hand the government feels minors are not old enough to make certain adult choices, but yet at the same time they want adult rules applied to them like taxes. I feel the government has more important things to worry about. Taxing a child making $200/yr. on a lemonade stand if they are lucky, will not solve our national debt problem and we are only digging ourselves deeper into debt by paying politicians to come up with such crazy ideas.

 

[Compassion]