Information Services (revised fall 2024)
The NAICS definition of Information Services attempts to include all the establishments that produce, distribute or transmit information or cultural products. Information service jobs trended upward in the 1990’s and peaked in 2000 with 3.6 million jobs, followed by a slow decline to 3.027 million jobs by the beginning of 2024. Information services include publishing of newspapers, periodicals, greeting cards, books, and directory and mailing list publishers on paper or as electronic publishers. The publishing industry also includes software publishers. Information services includes the motion picture and sound recording industries, broadcasting, wired, wireless and satellite telecommunications, a data processing sub sector and web search portals, libraries, archives, and other information services. Digital technology has created new industries and new jobs, but not fast enough to replace the jobs lost from the paper era and wireline telecommunications.
The publishing industry sub sector also had peak employment in 2000 at 1.059 million jobs. They declined to 944.5 thousand jobs at the beginning of 2024 disguises the shift of employment out of paper and into publishing computer software. In 1990, software publishing employed 98.2 thousand while now establishment employment totals 656.0 thousand jobs at an annual growth of almost 6 percent a year. In contrast, jobs at newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers have declined 490.7 thousand jobs to 288.6 thousand at the beginning of 2024, or from 778.8 thousand in 1990.
Newspaper publishers have eliminated their opening and closing stock prices and classified advertising. They cannot compete with the graphs, charts and continuously updating stock quotations available on the Internet. Many newspapers try to have online advertising but they come under competitive pressure from the web site known as Craigslist. Materials there defines their mission rather than what they do. What they do is up to the user to decide and I would say it is self-serve classified advertising, available free. There are message boards and chat rooms and some other appealing services, all free, but roughly speaking it is classified advertising by geographic area and no charge. It serves the entire world.
Metropolitan Washington, DC has its own link and scrolling through the ads it is definitely getting heavy use. For many years, the Washington Post continued with its printed classified ads that had significant charges, especially compared to free. Having the Washington Post and Craigslist selling classified advertising at dramatically different prices in the same market defies everything economists predict about markets. In economic theory this does not happen. The low cost and low price seller will take business away from the high priced seller. High priced sellers will disappear; prices will equalize among competitive sellers. It took quite a few years but the Washington Post no longer prints classified advertising. When I first heard about Craigslist, they had an “about us” link where I learned they had 18 employees. The number went but even now in 2024 they have only 50 employees. Think about that. In the new digital world, we can have all the classified advertising anybody needs or wants anywhere in the world with just 50 jobs. The digital world assures the future of information will be electronic and the job trends will be down.
The motion picture and sound recording industries have 419.2 thousand jobs, a total below the pre-pandemic employment levels. Job growth in this industry has remained below 1 percent since 2000. The motion picture and video production sub sectors has 241.9 thousand of the jobs with 122.1 thousand jobs in the exhibition sub sector and a few more jobs in post production and distribution services. Employment in the sound recording industry dropped below 20 thousand more than ten years ago and remains a small source of jobs.
The broadcasting industry by the beginning of 2024 had 347.4 thousand jobs. The broadcasting jobs in television and radio reached a high of 165.9 thousand jobs in 2000, but dropped afterward to 120.5 thousand by 2024 with 53.1 thousand jobs in radio broadcasting and 67.4 thousand jobs in television broadcasting remaining. Changes in the types of broadcasting services and in the make up of establishments providing them created a need to combine old data into a newly defined broadcasting sub sector. It is called media streaming distribution services, social networks, and other media networks and content providers. It had 226.8 thousand jobs.
The telecommunications industry reached their peak employment of 1.425 million in March 2001, before a precipitous decline of 750 thousand jobs by the beginning of 2024. Only 646.4 thousand jobs remain with both the wired and wireless sub sectors in decline. Wired telecommunications had increasing employment until 2001 and then continuous employment decline to 466.2 thousand by 2024. Wireless communications, as in cell phones, had only 35 thousand jobs in 1990. It increased to 203.4 thousand jobs in 2007 only to begin a decline to 86.3 thousand jobs by 2024. Establishments acting as telecommunications resellers have 39.7 thousand jobs. An additional sub sector includes a variety of satellite tracking, communications telemetry, and radar station operations. Jobs at establishments providing Internet services or Voice over Internet protocols (VoIP) by way of client connections are also included here. They have only 54.1 thousand jobs with a negative growth rate since 2010.
Old timers will remember the phone monopoly where AT&T did its own research at Bell Labs, produced its own equipment at Western Electric and installed and owned the phone lines, switching equipment and all the business and household phones. Under regulations approved by the Federal Communications Commission phone users were renting their telephones from the AT&T and they were strictly prohibited from altering or changing their rental equipment. Anything but Phone Company phones were prohibited and referred to as foreign attachments.
Beginning the late 1960’s and 1970’s the Federal Communications Commission amended communications policy to encourage the use of new technologies and create new products: fax machines, answering machines, the computer modem, wi-fi Internet. The use of analog technology kept communication companies in separate markets with separate services. Before the arrival of digital communications, the phone company was close to the same thing as telecommunications and separate from other businesses. With today’s digital technology the walls of separation have come down. Now rules permit independent Internet Service providers, data processing services and others to have equal access to telecommunications providers. Wireline, wireless and cable companies can offer Internet services in addition to phone and cable services with minimal new investment in proprietary equipment. Costs are falling and the incremental cost of new subscribers for one or more services keeps dropping.
Competition could lead to lower prices to consumers and with more service options to choose different combinations of services. So far companies have responded with merger proposals more than price cuts and they get away with selling a block or bucket of services rather than allowing more choices. If Competition among companies with their overlapping services ever really breaks out, prices could fall to very low levels. It might happen and it might not. If prices remain high then profits and dividends to stockholders will be good. If prices fall, then profits and dividends will fall and consumers will get a break. Either way the prognosis is not good for jobs.
Establishments producing data services provide computing infrastructure, data processing, and web hosting that includes streaming support services, although not streaming distribution services. Data processing establishments provide complete processing and specialized reports from data supplied by clients or provide automated data processing and data entry services. Data processing and web hosting services had growing employment until 2001 when jobs totaled 316.8 thousand. Jobs declined below 300 thousand but remained steady until 2016 when they began to grow again. The highest total so far came at the beginning of 2024 with 489.6 thousand jobs. These jobs have a long term growth rate of 2.58 percent.
Establishments providing Web search portals, libraries, archives and other related services have 179.9 thousand jobs divided between 27.8 thousand jobs at libraries and archives and 152 thousand jobs needed to operate web sites that use a search engine to generate and maintain extensive databases of Internet addresses and content. Web search portals often have additional services like email, connections to other Web sites, auctions and news and views. Even though library employment remains low it has more than doubled since 1990 at a long term growth rate of 2.68 percent. Web search portals had only 25.5 thousand jobs in 1990 but with a long term growth rate of 5.56 percent, suggesting continued job growth.
Information occupations needing college degree skills come to 1.779 million jobs, or almost 60 percent of total information jobs, although 98 percent of these jobs require a BA degree, not an advanced degree. The college degree total includes 617.6 thousand jobs needing computer skills, including 437.4 thousand of them as computer programmers, software developers, quality assurance testers and web developers.
Career jobs that use college degree skills in publishing include 131.9 thousand jobs as news analysts, reporters and journalists, public relations specialists, writers and editors and another 57.5 thousand jobs in art and design occupations including graphic design; college degree skills in film and sound recording establishments include 99.3 thousand jobs as producers and directors. Many actors, composers and musicians have college degrees, but demonstrated skills are the main criteria for these jobs.
With only 3.027 million jobs information services have only a small share of non-farm establishment jobs. Information services had a rising share of non-farm jobs until 2000, which turned out to be the start of its downward trend. The 2024 job share equals 1.94 percent non-farm employment. Current trends do not suggest much help from information services to fill the new jobs of the future.
Wider use of information technology permits companies to increase their services and decrease employment. Up to 2024 the companies have avoided competition so that high prices restrict the use of services over what they would be if prices more closely reflected incremental costs. Increasing the sales of information services would help support jobs and moderate the decrease in employment caused by higher productivity and technology, but the small base of employment and the risks of further job losses does not permit forecasting many more jobs from information services. We have 71.464 million jobs left to fill we have to have more service.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Service Jobs - Non-Profit Organizations
Non-Profit Organizations (revised Fall 2024)
We can sympathize with the drafters and crafters of the North American Industry Classification system. These people are good at organization and classification, but as things went on they found a few industries that would not fit, leftovers too small to stand alone and too disparate to have a common name. Hence, they declared a sector called Other, which is really four sub sectors of very different services. Allow me to give their definition, which I cite exactly. “Establishments in this sector are primarily engaged in activities, such as equipment and machinery repairing, promoting or administering religious activities, grantmaking, advocacy and providing dry cleaning and laundry services, personal care services, death care services, pet care services, photo finishing services, temporary parking services and dating services.” If you can find a common thread there you are definitely a better person than I am.
The four sub sectors make better sense looked at separately and national industry employment data is reported for the separate sub sectors. The biggest sub sector is a loose amalgam of non-profit organizations, which is the sub sector we want to look at here. The three other sub sectors we look at a little later on. Non-profits job totals have declined slightly over the last five years to just over 2.8 million jobs, not counting 1.550 million more jobs in religious organizations, meaning churches and synagogues, mosques and monasteries.
Besides religion non-profit organizations have grantmaking and giving services giving away money to worthy applicants, or social advocacy organizations promoting causes like wildlife preservation and birth control, or civic and social organizations like scouting, fraternal lodges, or country and social clubs promoting the civic and social interests of members, and finally Business, professional, labor, political and similar organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, International Brotherhood of Teamsters and various PAC’s and Federal Bar Associations.
Work at non-profit organizations tends to be office work, which assures a higher percentage of office jobs in managerial, financial and administrative support occupations than the national average. Specialized professional jobs include human resources, training, and labor relations specialists, and meeting and convention planners, but also social advocacy organizations need professionals to be counselors, social workers and social service specialists where knowledge of social problems and how to solve them requires counseling and social work training. Grant making and giving services may need these specialties to evaluate applications or do other advising.
Media occupations such as public relations specialist have 56.4 thousand jobs, public relations managers have 14.3 thousand more jobs, especially in business, professional, labor, and political organizations. There is no occupation called lobbyist in the Standard Occupational Classification but lobbyists are included in counts of public relations specialists.
Civic and social
organizations sub sector, which includes alumni associations, fraternal lodges,
social clubs and country clubs, tend to have dining rooms, fitness facilities,
and swimming pools so there are food service jobs and jobs as fitness trainers
and aerobics instructors, recreation workers, and other support jobs like
lifeguard, and childcare.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 213.6 thousand clergy working in religious organizations. Clergy can be clergy working in social service organizations and a few in the government, but only clergy jobs are counted here. Another 231.6 thousand jobs in other religious activities and education work in this sub sector. Many churches run a preschool so there are 72.8 thousand preschool teacher jobs. Other jobs include 40.7 thousand self-enrichment teachers and 28.7 thousand kindergarten, elementary and secondary school teachers also work here. Churches and religious organizations are the largest employers of musicians and singers who actually play and sing for pay; almost 79 thousand jobs. Musicians and singers at schools and colleges teach as their primary activity so their jobs go in education.
The non-profit organizations
in this sub sector generated 2.837 million jobs in 2023 but it is only 1.8
percent of establishment employment. Over the 33 years from 1990 to 2024 the
annual growth rates averaged .87 percent, lower than the national average so
non-profits are relatively less important now than 1990. It is a slow increase
in share however so non-profits will not be much help in replacing the lost
manufacturing jobs. We have 74.49 million jobs left to fill. We need more
service.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Service Jobs - Finance
Finance and Insurance Services (revised Fall 2024)
America has 6.731 million people with jobs in 3 separate NAICS sub sectors that handle financial transactions and not much else. The biggest share of these jobs goes into establishments defined as credit intermediaries, which have 2.6.31 million of the 6.731 million jobs.
Most of the establishments in credit intermediation are still known as banks, savings and loan, and credit unions, but there are others. Credit intermediaries accept deposits and make loans, but credit intermediaries also include lenders that do not accept deposits: credit card issuers, consumer lenders, and real estate credit firms. The banking and savings and loan part of credit intermediation are down 138.8 thousand jobs since 1990 and they continue to decline. Credit unions also declined from 345.4 thousand to 98.6 thousand jobs by the beginning of 2024.
New jobs in credit cards, consumer lending and real estate loans helped make up some losses. The job gains came in consumer lending up from 53.8 thousand jobs in 1990 to a high of 118.9 thousand jobs in 2007, but 94.3 thousand jobs by the end of 2023. Real estate credit companies jumped from 103.9 thousand jobs in 1990 to a high of 332.3 thousand jobs in 2006, but have dropped back to 198.5 thousand jobs by now.
A second sub sector defined as securities, commodity contracts and investments is much smaller with 1.102 million jobs, up from 488.7 thousand in 1990. Brokerage houses and investment bankers are in this sub sector.
The insurance sub sector has the second most jobs in finance and insurance: 2.975 million. Insurance companies added about a million jobs since 1990 with growth rates slightly better than the national average.
Finance and insurance occupations needing college degree skills comes to 3.56 million jobs, which is 52.8 percent of jobs in finance and insurance. The most important professional occupations needing college degree skills are loan officers with 279.8 thousand jobs. Loan officers work with the borrowing public, evaluating and advising clients and processing loan applications. Another 152.2 thousand work as financial analysts and 256.9 thousand work as personal financial advisors, mostly in credit intermediation and security brokerage and investment banking. Financial analysts study business financial statements and advise firms with money to invest. Personal financial advisors do similar work but advise individuals for their personal financial decisions.
There are four professional occupations specialized to the insurance industry: insurance sales agent with 462.6 thousand jobs, claims adjuster with 250.3 thousand jobs, insurance underwriter with 100.2 thousand jobs and actuary with about 23 thousand jobs. Actuaries analyze statistical data and construct probability tables of risk used to set premium rates that will build cash reserves to pay claims.
Money is only kilobytes on a computer, which makes finance and insurance jobs office work sitting at a desk with a computer. We especially suspect office work in finance and insurance because this sector and its sub sectors have the highest percentage of jobs in administration and office support occupations: 32 percent. The overall average among all America’s establishments is 12.2 percent.
Jobs in just the finance and insurance sector include 545.5 thousand jobs as customer service representatives, and 342.1 thousand jobs as tellers. Customer service representatives are one of several important office and administration jobs with employment in every sector of the United States economy. There are now 2.859 million total jobs as customer services representatives with the largest share, about 19 percent, employed in the finance and insurance sector. Customer service representatives handle customer inquiries and resolve customer complaints. Automated computerized voice mail systems do some of the routine customer service work, but not enough to decrease employment, although employment reached a high of 2.919 million in 2019 and stopped growing but stabilized until now.
Customer service representatives do not require college degree training, but they are not walk on jobs like a cashier. For starters, people in these jobs need to speak clearly and grammatically. They have to explain many varied service options and service plans that are increasingly complex and the job requires computer skills since they routinely access computer database information.
Unlike autoworkers, who have to be at the auto plant to do their work, Customer service representatives can be anywhere they have a computer and a telephone. Working from home saves commuter costs and space on already clogged highways. Telecommuting saves business the expense of providing office space, which gives incentive to increase their staff working at home at least some of the time. In addition, office space for customer service representatives could be moved to low rent small towns, rural areas or abroad to work, but over 90 percent of customer service representatives currently work in metropolitan areas.
The claim is made that business is transferring customer service jobs abroad, but it is unlikely their numbers would stabilize at such a high amount if many of these jobs were being moved abroad. Given the complexity of America’s many service plans in loans, credit cards, telecommunications, health care and other areas customer service work will not be decreasing anytime soon. If employment in these areas begins to decline then it will be a blunt message that these jobs are being moved abroad.
Tellers are also an important job to watch. Office automation could just about eliminate teller jobs. Money machines eliminate the need for tellers for check cashing and other basic banking transactions. Writing paper checks requires an elaborate process of handling, posting and clearance that takes much longer and requires more labor than electronic processing at the point of sale.
Available technology permits elimination of check writing, paper and currency in today’s digital world. However, teller jobs are not decreasing and have been increasing modestly in the last few years. Our happiness with these teller jobs has to be modest because the 2023 median annual salary rings in at $37,640, but their continued growth shows America’s resistance to further changing to electronic money. With broadband Internet hookups at more and more households some people are comfortable with their money literally flying through the air. Perhaps paper gives comfort to others with something so important in our daily lives. Whatever the reason America’s refusal to eliminate checks and currency supports many more jobs than technology requires.
Higher labor productivity makes manufacturing more efficient, but continues to eliminate jobs. In a digital world finance and insurance also has the potential to use more efficient methods that will eliminate teller jobs. If Americans keep using things that are inefficient America would have more jobs, but if America wants efficiency they may have to think of shorter hours or some new ways to spread the work.
With a 134.453 million service jobs to divvy up, Finance and Insurance gives us 6.731 million jobs, which comes to 4.3 per cent of establishment jobs. Finance and insurance services employment continues to grow too slowly to maintain its share of America’s jobs. We have looked at 57.1 million service jobs so far but we still have 77.328 million service jobs left to fill. Non-profit organizations are up next. Even though they do not sell much they have service, service, and service.
America has 6.731 million people with jobs in 3 separate NAICS sub sectors that handle financial transactions and not much else. The biggest share of these jobs goes into establishments defined as credit intermediaries, which have 2.6.31 million of the 6.731 million jobs.
Most of the establishments in credit intermediation are still known as banks, savings and loan, and credit unions, but there are others. Credit intermediaries accept deposits and make loans, but credit intermediaries also include lenders that do not accept deposits: credit card issuers, consumer lenders, and real estate credit firms. The banking and savings and loan part of credit intermediation are down 138.8 thousand jobs since 1990 and they continue to decline. Credit unions also declined from 345.4 thousand to 98.6 thousand jobs by the beginning of 2024.
New jobs in credit cards, consumer lending and real estate loans helped make up some losses. The job gains came in consumer lending up from 53.8 thousand jobs in 1990 to a high of 118.9 thousand jobs in 2007, but 94.3 thousand jobs by the end of 2023. Real estate credit companies jumped from 103.9 thousand jobs in 1990 to a high of 332.3 thousand jobs in 2006, but have dropped back to 198.5 thousand jobs by now.
A second sub sector defined as securities, commodity contracts and investments is much smaller with 1.102 million jobs, up from 488.7 thousand in 1990. Brokerage houses and investment bankers are in this sub sector.
The insurance sub sector has the second most jobs in finance and insurance: 2.975 million. Insurance companies added about a million jobs since 1990 with growth rates slightly better than the national average.
Finance and insurance occupations needing college degree skills comes to 3.56 million jobs, which is 52.8 percent of jobs in finance and insurance. The most important professional occupations needing college degree skills are loan officers with 279.8 thousand jobs. Loan officers work with the borrowing public, evaluating and advising clients and processing loan applications. Another 152.2 thousand work as financial analysts and 256.9 thousand work as personal financial advisors, mostly in credit intermediation and security brokerage and investment banking. Financial analysts study business financial statements and advise firms with money to invest. Personal financial advisors do similar work but advise individuals for their personal financial decisions.
There are four professional occupations specialized to the insurance industry: insurance sales agent with 462.6 thousand jobs, claims adjuster with 250.3 thousand jobs, insurance underwriter with 100.2 thousand jobs and actuary with about 23 thousand jobs. Actuaries analyze statistical data and construct probability tables of risk used to set premium rates that will build cash reserves to pay claims.
Money is only kilobytes on a computer, which makes finance and insurance jobs office work sitting at a desk with a computer. We especially suspect office work in finance and insurance because this sector and its sub sectors have the highest percentage of jobs in administration and office support occupations: 32 percent. The overall average among all America’s establishments is 12.2 percent.
Jobs in just the finance and insurance sector include 545.5 thousand jobs as customer service representatives, and 342.1 thousand jobs as tellers. Customer service representatives are one of several important office and administration jobs with employment in every sector of the United States economy. There are now 2.859 million total jobs as customer services representatives with the largest share, about 19 percent, employed in the finance and insurance sector. Customer service representatives handle customer inquiries and resolve customer complaints. Automated computerized voice mail systems do some of the routine customer service work, but not enough to decrease employment, although employment reached a high of 2.919 million in 2019 and stopped growing but stabilized until now.
Customer service representatives do not require college degree training, but they are not walk on jobs like a cashier. For starters, people in these jobs need to speak clearly and grammatically. They have to explain many varied service options and service plans that are increasingly complex and the job requires computer skills since they routinely access computer database information.
Unlike autoworkers, who have to be at the auto plant to do their work, Customer service representatives can be anywhere they have a computer and a telephone. Working from home saves commuter costs and space on already clogged highways. Telecommuting saves business the expense of providing office space, which gives incentive to increase their staff working at home at least some of the time. In addition, office space for customer service representatives could be moved to low rent small towns, rural areas or abroad to work, but over 90 percent of customer service representatives currently work in metropolitan areas.
The claim is made that business is transferring customer service jobs abroad, but it is unlikely their numbers would stabilize at such a high amount if many of these jobs were being moved abroad. Given the complexity of America’s many service plans in loans, credit cards, telecommunications, health care and other areas customer service work will not be decreasing anytime soon. If employment in these areas begins to decline then it will be a blunt message that these jobs are being moved abroad.
Tellers are also an important job to watch. Office automation could just about eliminate teller jobs. Money machines eliminate the need for tellers for check cashing and other basic banking transactions. Writing paper checks requires an elaborate process of handling, posting and clearance that takes much longer and requires more labor than electronic processing at the point of sale.
Available technology permits elimination of check writing, paper and currency in today’s digital world. However, teller jobs are not decreasing and have been increasing modestly in the last few years. Our happiness with these teller jobs has to be modest because the 2023 median annual salary rings in at $37,640, but their continued growth shows America’s resistance to further changing to electronic money. With broadband Internet hookups at more and more households some people are comfortable with their money literally flying through the air. Perhaps paper gives comfort to others with something so important in our daily lives. Whatever the reason America’s refusal to eliminate checks and currency supports many more jobs than technology requires.
Higher labor productivity makes manufacturing more efficient, but continues to eliminate jobs. In a digital world finance and insurance also has the potential to use more efficient methods that will eliminate teller jobs. If Americans keep using things that are inefficient America would have more jobs, but if America wants efficiency they may have to think of shorter hours or some new ways to spread the work.
With a 134.453 million service jobs to divvy up, Finance and Insurance gives us 6.731 million jobs, which comes to 4.3 per cent of establishment jobs. Finance and insurance services employment continues to grow too slowly to maintain its share of America’s jobs. We have looked at 57.1 million service jobs so far but we still have 77.328 million service jobs left to fill. Non-profit organizations are up next. Even though they do not sell much they have service, service, and service.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Service Jobs - Management
Management of Companies and Enterprises (revised fall 2024)
This sector is the oddball of the NAICS classification system. An important reason for defining a management sector comes from the emphasis on reporting data and information at the establishment level. A firm can have many establishments scattered around at different locations where some establishments within the larger firm might be just head offices or administrative offices. Other establishments might be doing the firm’s productive work with some management, but establishments primarily engaged in managing get their own sector.
The management of companies and enterprises sector employs 2.56 million as of 2023, 886.4 thousand more than 1990. Just over 90 percent of employment in this sector is in establishments that only administer, oversee or manage other establishments, or do the administrative work for establishments that actually do something like manufacture products or provide services. The remaining 10 percent of jobs are at holding companies that own the stocks of one or more other companies in order to control them.
In this, a managerial sub sector, management jobs have 21.4 percent of all the jobs, which accounts for 548 thousand management positions. In the national economy a little over 6.9 percent of America’s jobs are classified as part of managerial occupations like general and operations manager, marketing manager, sales manager and so on. Even though lots of managerial jobs are filled with people moving from professional jobs, management occupations remain distinct from professional occupations. A civil engineer who works as a manager of civil engineers works in a management occupation, even though civil engineer is a profession. The bachelor degree plus work experience in the related occupation amounts to a managerial skill category because almost 90 percent of jobs with these skills and experience are in one or another of management occupations.
With a 134.453 million service jobs to divvy up Management of Companies and Enterprises has only 2.558 million jobs or 1.64 percent of establishment employment. Job growth since 2010 is 2.23 percent a full percent above the national average for that period. It helps a little but not much.
So far we have looked at the jobs in service sectors of education, professional- scientific-technical services, health care, social services and the management of companies and found 25.084 million jobs that use college degree skills. which are 50.1 percent of the 49.587 million jobs using college degree skills in the U.S. economy. There are 84.059 million jobs left in 12 more service sectors with 24.5 million professional jobs that go in them. With major service providing sectors behind us we are running short of professional employment. We have not looked at financial services. That will be next.
This sector is the oddball of the NAICS classification system. An important reason for defining a management sector comes from the emphasis on reporting data and information at the establishment level. A firm can have many establishments scattered around at different locations where some establishments within the larger firm might be just head offices or administrative offices. Other establishments might be doing the firm’s productive work with some management, but establishments primarily engaged in managing get their own sector.
The management of companies and enterprises sector employs 2.56 million as of 2023, 886.4 thousand more than 1990. Just over 90 percent of employment in this sector is in establishments that only administer, oversee or manage other establishments, or do the administrative work for establishments that actually do something like manufacture products or provide services. The remaining 10 percent of jobs are at holding companies that own the stocks of one or more other companies in order to control them.
In this, a managerial sub sector, management jobs have 21.4 percent of all the jobs, which accounts for 548 thousand management positions. In the national economy a little over 6.9 percent of America’s jobs are classified as part of managerial occupations like general and operations manager, marketing manager, sales manager and so on. Even though lots of managerial jobs are filled with people moving from professional jobs, management occupations remain distinct from professional occupations. A civil engineer who works as a manager of civil engineers works in a management occupation, even though civil engineer is a profession. The bachelor degree plus work experience in the related occupation amounts to a managerial skill category because almost 90 percent of jobs with these skills and experience are in one or another of management occupations.
With a 134.453 million service jobs to divvy up Management of Companies and Enterprises has only 2.558 million jobs or 1.64 percent of establishment employment. Job growth since 2010 is 2.23 percent a full percent above the national average for that period. It helps a little but not much.
So far we have looked at the jobs in service sectors of education, professional- scientific-technical services, health care, social services and the management of companies and found 25.084 million jobs that use college degree skills. which are 50.1 percent of the 49.587 million jobs using college degree skills in the U.S. economy. There are 84.059 million jobs left in 12 more service sectors with 24.5 million professional jobs that go in them. With major service providing sectors behind us we are running short of professional employment. We have not looked at financial services. That will be next.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Curbing Illegal Immigrants
On October 10, 2007 in an article entitled “Effort to Curb Illegal Worker’s Hiring Blocked” the Washington Post reported that overall, 7.2 million illegal immigrants account for at least 10 percent of low skilled U.S. workers and that 5 percent of the total U.S. workforce is unauthorized. The figures were cited from the Pew Hispanic Center.
Solving this problem of illegal immigrants is simple as Congress discussed recently with the minimum wage bill. They told us raising the minimum wage will reduce employment by raising operating costs, which forces business to economize on labor and layoff many. Economists continue to be unanimous in their forecast; a higher minimum wage will decrease the demand for labor.
Therefore, if we want to eliminate illegal foreign workers we will need to raise the minimum wage to eliminate their jobs. We can make a good estimate here because the Pew Institute named specific occupations where there are many illegal immigrants. They mentioned grounds maintenance workers. Well gee, over at the Bureau of Labor Statistics that is an official job with Standard Occupational Classification of 37-3011, Landscaping and Groundskeeping worker. The hard working folks at the Bureau of Labor Statistics report 924 thousand jobs at a median wage of $10.22 an hour. I am sure a new minimum wage of $12.50 an hour would eliminate thousands of those low paid landscaping and groundskeeping jobs and send thousands of those illegal immigrants back home from whence they came.
Or how about Construction Laborers? The Pew Institute mentioned them as well. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports over a million Construction Laborers, Standard Occupational Classification of 47-2061, in its May 2006 occupational employment survey with a median hourly wage of $12.66 an hour. As all economists will tell you eliminating jobs requires raising the minimum wage above its market level so if we are going to be able to send those illegal construction laborers home we will need to get that minimum wage above $12.66 an hour. Economic policy is so easy. We just need to apply the basic principles.
Solving this problem of illegal immigrants is simple as Congress discussed recently with the minimum wage bill. They told us raising the minimum wage will reduce employment by raising operating costs, which forces business to economize on labor and layoff many. Economists continue to be unanimous in their forecast; a higher minimum wage will decrease the demand for labor.
Therefore, if we want to eliminate illegal foreign workers we will need to raise the minimum wage to eliminate their jobs. We can make a good estimate here because the Pew Institute named specific occupations where there are many illegal immigrants. They mentioned grounds maintenance workers. Well gee, over at the Bureau of Labor Statistics that is an official job with Standard Occupational Classification of 37-3011, Landscaping and Groundskeeping worker. The hard working folks at the Bureau of Labor Statistics report 924 thousand jobs at a median wage of $10.22 an hour. I am sure a new minimum wage of $12.50 an hour would eliminate thousands of those low paid landscaping and groundskeeping jobs and send thousands of those illegal immigrants back home from whence they came.
Or how about Construction Laborers? The Pew Institute mentioned them as well. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports over a million Construction Laborers, Standard Occupational Classification of 47-2061, in its May 2006 occupational employment survey with a median hourly wage of $12.66 an hour. As all economists will tell you eliminating jobs requires raising the minimum wage above its market level so if we are going to be able to send those illegal construction laborers home we will need to get that minimum wage above $12.66 an hour. Economic policy is so easy. We just need to apply the basic principles.
Service Jobs - Skills
Education and Training Classification System
It is important to pause at this juncture to consider occupational education, experience and training requirements. In the section above I referred to jobs requiring college degree training or jobs requiring professional skills. It might appear these are my terms, but that is not correct. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has many people assigned to study the more than 700 United States occupations. They survey employers to find out what someone has to know and do to qualify for employment in each occupation. They go to colleges and universities to learn about the curriculum for degree training. They study state regulations to know licensing or certification requirements. Categorizing education, experience and training for occupations is on going work, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics skills taxonomy reflects the current education, experience and training associated with data reported within its occupational categories. This taxonomy appears in the Tables below.
The degree requirements and education in Table I give the minimum of formal education typically required for entry into an occupation. The first four of the Bureau of Labor Statistics education categories give the minimum of college degree skills required for entry to work in an occupation.
Table I - Education Categories
1. Doctoral or Professional Degree-Completion of a doctoral degree (PhD) usually requires at least three years of full-time academic work beyond a bachelor’s degree. Completion of a professional degree usually requires at least three years of full-time academic study beyond a bachelor’s degree. Examples of occupations for which a professional degree is the typical form of entry-level education include lawyers, physicians and surgeons, and dentists.
2. Master's Degree–Completion of this degree usually requires 1 or 2 years of full-time academic study beyond a bachelor’s degree. Examples of occupations in this category include statisticians, physician’s assistants, and educational, vocational, and school counselors.
3. Bachelor's degree –Completion of this degree generally requires at least 4 years, but not more than 5 years, of full-time academic study beyond high school. Examples of occupations in this category include budget analysts, dietitians, and civil engineers.
4. Associate Degree -Completion of this degree generally requires at least 2 years but not more than 4 years of full-time academic study beyond high school. Examples of occupations in this category include mechanical drafters, respiratory therapists, and dental hygienists.
5. Post-secondary non degree award-These programs lead to a certificate or other award, but not a degree. The certificate is awarded by the educational institution and is the result of completing formal postsecondary schooling. Certification, which is issued by a professional organization or certifying body, is not included here. Some postsecondary non degree award programs last only a few weeks, while others may last 1 to 2 years. Examples of occupations in this category include nursing aides, emergency medical technicians, (EMTs) and paramedics, and hairstylists.
6. Some College, no Degree-This category signifies the achievement of a high school diploma or equivalent plus the completion of one or more postsecondary courses that did not result in a degree or award. Examples of occupations in this category are actors and computer support specialists.
7. High School Diploma or Equivalent-This category signifies the completion of high school or an equivalent program resulting in the award of a high school diploma or an equivalent, such as the General Educational Development (GED) credential. Examples of occupations in this category include social and human service assistants and pharmacy technicians.
8. Less than High School-This category signifies the completion of any level of primary or secondary education that did not result in the award of a high school diploma or equivalent. Examples of occupations in this category include janitors and cleaners, cashiers, and caret installers.
The term required has a broad use. In some occupations the degree is absolutely necessary and a candidate will not be considered without the required degree. These include occupations where a degree is required to begin an intern or residency program to complete licensing requirements by the state or by a private association empowered by the state. Physicians and surgeons, veterinarians, architects, lawyers, and counselors all have professional degree requirements.
In other occupations, a college degree is not strictly required but the skills needed before entry are such that a degree is strongly preferred by employers and candidates without a degree are much less likely to be considered, much less employed. Categories emphasize the sources and length of training preferred by employers. Training might be post-secondary, vocational, college classes, or the general work force skills associated with a high school degree or high school classes. The duration of training could range from a week or two to many years.
Prior experience and on the job training are part of the skills taxonomy. Table II has four categories of work experience in a related occupation that go from none to more than 5 years. Over 80 percent of the occupations do not need work experience in a related occupation. However, all but one or two managerial occupations require experience in a related occupation. For example, advertising managers usually need experience in the advertising industry before they are ready to be advertising managers. First line managers or supervisors of retail workers usually need to have related experience in retailing as retail salesperson before they are ready to be managers.
Table II - Work Experience in Related Occupation
1. More than 5 years-This is assigned to occupations if more than 5 years of work experience in a related occupation is typically needed for entry. Examples include construction managers and computer and information systems managers.
2. 1 to 5 Years-To enter occupations in this category, workers typically need 1-5 years of work experience in a relation occupation. Examples include marketing managers and database administrators.
3. Less than a year- Examples of occupations that typically need less than 1 year of work experience in a related occupation include restaurant cooks and industrial truck and tractor operators.
4. None-No work in related occupation is typically needed. Examples are audiologists and actuaries
Table III has six categories that describe skills learned through on-the-job training. Skills learned on-the-job are not entry level skills, but occupation specific skills that could be transferred to another job. New hires bring education and training to the job, but on-the-job training is additional skills learned and perfected after taking a job.
Medicine and education account for most of the internship and residency programs. Apprenticeship programs apply to construction trades workers and a few more occupations like funeral service managers and appraisers of real estate. Long term on the job training can include employer sponsored work programs or combined classroom and work training programs. Long term means 12 months or more. Occupations that typically need long term training to be fully competent include electric and electronics mechanics, installers and repair workers, automobile, bus, vehicle and equipment mechanics and repair workers and plant operators. Also police, fire and rescue workers, and flight attendants typically need long term training.
Moderate term on the job training combines job experience with a mentor or other informal training. Moderate term means 1 to 12 months. Jobs needing moderate term on the job training run a broad range of entry level skills from a baccalaureate degree to less than high school. Loan counselors, insurance underwriters, tax examiners are examples of jobs that need both college degree skills and moderate on the job training. Other jobs like school bus driver and flight attendant need only a high school degree for entry but require additional on the job training.
Table III – On the Job Training
1. Internship/Residency-A internship or residency is training that involves preparation in a field such as medicine or teaching, generally under supervision in a professional setting such as a hospital or classroom. This type of training may occur before one is employed. Completion of an internship or residency program is commonly required for state licensure or certification in fields including medicine, counseling, architecture, and teaching. This category does not include internships that are suggested for advancement. Examples of occupations in the internship/residency category include physicians and surgeons and marriage and family therapists.
2. Apprenticeship-An apprenticeship is a formal relationship between a worker and sponsor that consists of a combination of on the job training and related occupation-specific technical instruction in which the worker learns the practical and theoretical aspects of an occupation. Apprenticeship programs are sponsored by individual employers, joint employer and labor groups, and employer associations. The typical apprenticeship program provides at least 144 hours of occupation-specific technical instruction and 2,000 hours of on the job training per year over a 3 to 5 year period. Examples of occupations in the apprenticeship category include electricians and structural iron and steel workers.
3. Long term on the job training-More than 12 months of on-the-job training or, alternatively, combined work experience and formal classroom instruction, are needed for workers to develop the skills necessary to attain competency. Training is occupation specific rather than job specific; therefore, skills learned can be transferred to another job in the same occupation. This on-the-job training category also includes employer-sponsored training programs. Such programs include those offered by fire and police academies and schools for air traffic controllers and flight attendants. In other occupations -- nuclear power reactor operators, for example – trainees take formal courses, often provided at the jobsite, to prepare for the required licensing exams. This category excludes apprenticeships. Examples of occupations in the long term on the job training category include opticians and automotive service technicians and mechanics.
4. Moderate term on the job training-Moderate term on-the-job training; Skills needed for a worker to attain competency in an occupation that can be acquired during 1 to 12 months of combined on the job experience and informal training. Training is occupation specific rather that job specific; therefore, skills learned can be transferred to another job in the same occupation. This on-the-job training category also includes employer sponsored training programs. Examples of occupations in the moderate term category include school bus drivers and advertising sales agents.
5. Short term on the job training-Skills needed for a worker to attain competency in an occupation that can be acquired during 1 month or less of on-the-job experience and informal training. Training is occupation-specific rather than job specific; therefore, skills learned can be transferred to another job in the same occupation. This on-the-job training category also includes employer sponsored training programs. Examples of occupations in the short term category include retail salespersons and maids and housekeeping cleaners.
6. None-There is no additional occupation specific training or preparation typically required to attain competency in the occupation. Examples of occupations that do not require occupation-specific on-the-job training include geographers and pharmacists.
Short term on the job training combines demonstration, coaching and informal instruction to be fully competent in an occupation. Short term means a brief period of 1 month or less. Many production occupations in manufacturing like assemblers, operators and machine tenders require brief training. Also clerks, cashiers, telemarketers, hotel and motel staff need short term on the job training.
The largest share of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ standard occupations do not require on the job training: 34 percent have none listed for on the job training. Even though many people learn to do their work faster or more productively on the job, on-the-job training is not desirable for all occupations. Accountants and auditors, surveyors, engineers, pharmacists are all occupations where applicants need to establish competency before they begin.
This taxonomy is the work of many at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and I have adopted their categories in all occupational references. Reference to skills, training and education follows the BLS system. Now you know.
It is important to pause at this juncture to consider occupational education, experience and training requirements. In the section above I referred to jobs requiring college degree training or jobs requiring professional skills. It might appear these are my terms, but that is not correct. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has many people assigned to study the more than 700 United States occupations. They survey employers to find out what someone has to know and do to qualify for employment in each occupation. They go to colleges and universities to learn about the curriculum for degree training. They study state regulations to know licensing or certification requirements. Categorizing education, experience and training for occupations is on going work, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics skills taxonomy reflects the current education, experience and training associated with data reported within its occupational categories. This taxonomy appears in the Tables below.
The degree requirements and education in Table I give the minimum of formal education typically required for entry into an occupation. The first four of the Bureau of Labor Statistics education categories give the minimum of college degree skills required for entry to work in an occupation.
Table I - Education Categories
1. Doctoral or Professional Degree-Completion of a doctoral degree (PhD) usually requires at least three years of full-time academic work beyond a bachelor’s degree. Completion of a professional degree usually requires at least three years of full-time academic study beyond a bachelor’s degree. Examples of occupations for which a professional degree is the typical form of entry-level education include lawyers, physicians and surgeons, and dentists.
2. Master's Degree–Completion of this degree usually requires 1 or 2 years of full-time academic study beyond a bachelor’s degree. Examples of occupations in this category include statisticians, physician’s assistants, and educational, vocational, and school counselors.
3. Bachelor's degree –Completion of this degree generally requires at least 4 years, but not more than 5 years, of full-time academic study beyond high school. Examples of occupations in this category include budget analysts, dietitians, and civil engineers.
4. Associate Degree -Completion of this degree generally requires at least 2 years but not more than 4 years of full-time academic study beyond high school. Examples of occupations in this category include mechanical drafters, respiratory therapists, and dental hygienists.
5. Post-secondary non degree award-These programs lead to a certificate or other award, but not a degree. The certificate is awarded by the educational institution and is the result of completing formal postsecondary schooling. Certification, which is issued by a professional organization or certifying body, is not included here. Some postsecondary non degree award programs last only a few weeks, while others may last 1 to 2 years. Examples of occupations in this category include nursing aides, emergency medical technicians, (EMTs) and paramedics, and hairstylists.
6. Some College, no Degree-This category signifies the achievement of a high school diploma or equivalent plus the completion of one or more postsecondary courses that did not result in a degree or award. Examples of occupations in this category are actors and computer support specialists.
7. High School Diploma or Equivalent-This category signifies the completion of high school or an equivalent program resulting in the award of a high school diploma or an equivalent, such as the General Educational Development (GED) credential. Examples of occupations in this category include social and human service assistants and pharmacy technicians.
8. Less than High School-This category signifies the completion of any level of primary or secondary education that did not result in the award of a high school diploma or equivalent. Examples of occupations in this category include janitors and cleaners, cashiers, and caret installers.
The term required has a broad use. In some occupations the degree is absolutely necessary and a candidate will not be considered without the required degree. These include occupations where a degree is required to begin an intern or residency program to complete licensing requirements by the state or by a private association empowered by the state. Physicians and surgeons, veterinarians, architects, lawyers, and counselors all have professional degree requirements.
In other occupations, a college degree is not strictly required but the skills needed before entry are such that a degree is strongly preferred by employers and candidates without a degree are much less likely to be considered, much less employed. Categories emphasize the sources and length of training preferred by employers. Training might be post-secondary, vocational, college classes, or the general work force skills associated with a high school degree or high school classes. The duration of training could range from a week or two to many years.
Prior experience and on the job training are part of the skills taxonomy. Table II has four categories of work experience in a related occupation that go from none to more than 5 years. Over 80 percent of the occupations do not need work experience in a related occupation. However, all but one or two managerial occupations require experience in a related occupation. For example, advertising managers usually need experience in the advertising industry before they are ready to be advertising managers. First line managers or supervisors of retail workers usually need to have related experience in retailing as retail salesperson before they are ready to be managers.
Table II - Work Experience in Related Occupation
1. More than 5 years-This is assigned to occupations if more than 5 years of work experience in a related occupation is typically needed for entry. Examples include construction managers and computer and information systems managers.
2. 1 to 5 Years-To enter occupations in this category, workers typically need 1-5 years of work experience in a relation occupation. Examples include marketing managers and database administrators.
3. Less than a year- Examples of occupations that typically need less than 1 year of work experience in a related occupation include restaurant cooks and industrial truck and tractor operators.
4. None-No work in related occupation is typically needed. Examples are audiologists and actuaries
Table III has six categories that describe skills learned through on-the-job training. Skills learned on-the-job are not entry level skills, but occupation specific skills that could be transferred to another job. New hires bring education and training to the job, but on-the-job training is additional skills learned and perfected after taking a job.
Medicine and education account for most of the internship and residency programs. Apprenticeship programs apply to construction trades workers and a few more occupations like funeral service managers and appraisers of real estate. Long term on the job training can include employer sponsored work programs or combined classroom and work training programs. Long term means 12 months or more. Occupations that typically need long term training to be fully competent include electric and electronics mechanics, installers and repair workers, automobile, bus, vehicle and equipment mechanics and repair workers and plant operators. Also police, fire and rescue workers, and flight attendants typically need long term training.
Moderate term on the job training combines job experience with a mentor or other informal training. Moderate term means 1 to 12 months. Jobs needing moderate term on the job training run a broad range of entry level skills from a baccalaureate degree to less than high school. Loan counselors, insurance underwriters, tax examiners are examples of jobs that need both college degree skills and moderate on the job training. Other jobs like school bus driver and flight attendant need only a high school degree for entry but require additional on the job training.
Table III – On the Job Training
1. Internship/Residency-A internship or residency is training that involves preparation in a field such as medicine or teaching, generally under supervision in a professional setting such as a hospital or classroom. This type of training may occur before one is employed. Completion of an internship or residency program is commonly required for state licensure or certification in fields including medicine, counseling, architecture, and teaching. This category does not include internships that are suggested for advancement. Examples of occupations in the internship/residency category include physicians and surgeons and marriage and family therapists.
2. Apprenticeship-An apprenticeship is a formal relationship between a worker and sponsor that consists of a combination of on the job training and related occupation-specific technical instruction in which the worker learns the practical and theoretical aspects of an occupation. Apprenticeship programs are sponsored by individual employers, joint employer and labor groups, and employer associations. The typical apprenticeship program provides at least 144 hours of occupation-specific technical instruction and 2,000 hours of on the job training per year over a 3 to 5 year period. Examples of occupations in the apprenticeship category include electricians and structural iron and steel workers.
3. Long term on the job training-More than 12 months of on-the-job training or, alternatively, combined work experience and formal classroom instruction, are needed for workers to develop the skills necessary to attain competency. Training is occupation specific rather than job specific; therefore, skills learned can be transferred to another job in the same occupation. This on-the-job training category also includes employer-sponsored training programs. Such programs include those offered by fire and police academies and schools for air traffic controllers and flight attendants. In other occupations -- nuclear power reactor operators, for example – trainees take formal courses, often provided at the jobsite, to prepare for the required licensing exams. This category excludes apprenticeships. Examples of occupations in the long term on the job training category include opticians and automotive service technicians and mechanics.
4. Moderate term on the job training-Moderate term on-the-job training; Skills needed for a worker to attain competency in an occupation that can be acquired during 1 to 12 months of combined on the job experience and informal training. Training is occupation specific rather that job specific; therefore, skills learned can be transferred to another job in the same occupation. This on-the-job training category also includes employer sponsored training programs. Examples of occupations in the moderate term category include school bus drivers and advertising sales agents.
5. Short term on the job training-Skills needed for a worker to attain competency in an occupation that can be acquired during 1 month or less of on-the-job experience and informal training. Training is occupation-specific rather than job specific; therefore, skills learned can be transferred to another job in the same occupation. This on-the-job training category also includes employer sponsored training programs. Examples of occupations in the short term category include retail salespersons and maids and housekeeping cleaners.
6. None-There is no additional occupation specific training or preparation typically required to attain competency in the occupation. Examples of occupations that do not require occupation-specific on-the-job training include geographers and pharmacists.
Short term on the job training combines demonstration, coaching and informal instruction to be fully competent in an occupation. Short term means a brief period of 1 month or less. Many production occupations in manufacturing like assemblers, operators and machine tenders require brief training. Also clerks, cashiers, telemarketers, hotel and motel staff need short term on the job training.
The largest share of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ standard occupations do not require on the job training: 34 percent have none listed for on the job training. Even though many people learn to do their work faster or more productively on the job, on-the-job training is not desirable for all occupations. Accountants and auditors, surveyors, engineers, pharmacists are all occupations where applicants need to establish competency before they begin.
This taxonomy is the work of many at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and I have adopted their categories in all occupational references. Reference to skills, training and education follows the BLS system. Now you know.
Monday, October 1, 2007
The Great Engine of Employment- Part II
Recently I was in a rural area of Michigan and stopped at a small out of the way place to buy a soda. As I paid I noticed a yellow sign about 8 ½ by 11 behind the clerk on the wall. It read “Licensed Minnow Dealer.” I asked the clerk if there was any special information he had to know to secure that license? Did he have to go to class to learn about minnow care, or pass a test to assure minnow competence, before he could get that license? He groaned a slow groan. “Noooooo. The governor is desperate for money. It’s just another tax.”
The minnow tax qualifies as a tiny tax, not because the tax yield is small, but because it applies to few people and goes unnoticed by nearly all of Michigan. Tiny taxes are easy to slip by the public unnoticed. We can hope the money collected for the minnow tax covers the wage costs of the people who collect it. Even it doesn’t, it is still a good tax for politicians. It generates jobs and politicians must be able to say jobs are rising and go easy on the details. As we will see below there are hundreds of tiny taxes generating jobs.
The relentless tide of productivity increases, the outsourcing of jobs abroad and the investment and movement of American manufacturing abroad has reduced millions of jobs in production occupations; 3.5 million since 1990. Tiny taxes along with the bigger and better known income, property and sales taxes create lots of tax collecting jobs.
The federal government collects the personal income tax, which is noted for its many forms and schedules and thick booklets of instructions. As recently as 1990 the IRS 1040 instruction book was 52 pages not counting the forms. In 2006 it swelled to 103 pages, not counting the forms and the pages of lost children. My favorite instruction for 2006 came from a list of exceptions. The exception is "Dividends attributable to periods totaling more the 366 days that you received on any share of preferred stock held for less than 91 days during the 180-period that began 90 days before the ex-dividend date." Even for someone who could understand when or how to apply this particular exception, would they know the ex-dividend date? Could they find the ex-dividend date?
It is popular around tax time for a Congressman or two to hold a press conference, waive some tax forms, and huff and puff in indignation at our complicated tax system. There are vows to do something, but they know perfectly well nothing will happen. The tax system is going to get more complicated: more forms, more worksheets, more booklets, more go here, more go there. It’s predictable because there is one powerful and consistent message that jumps out of every line of every page of tax forms and tax booklets. The message is employment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts employment as Tax Examiners and Tax Preparers at 138,000 in 2006. That total doesn't count employment in the cottage industries: paper, printing, software, books, accountants, lawyers, courts, the Post Office and, of course, tax advice. These are often high paying jobs for people of influence.
All that taxing work creates lots of jobs, but when the work is done there is nothing to drive, nothing to eat, nothing to wear. A large group of people writes checks to the government. Money is transferred, nothing else happens. It’s quite possible to end the income tax. Taxable income is almost identical with consumption spending because Americans save little as a society. Switch to a value added tax or sales tax and governments could still raise the necessary revenue without any income tax, and a tiny fraction of the present cost and work. Eliminating the income tax is administratively feasible, but it will not happen. It eliminates too much work.
But the federal personal income tax is just a start. The District of Columbia and 43 states have their own income tax with their own tax administration. They could declare that state residents will pay an income tax to their states as a percent of the federal tax and have the federal government collect and distribute the tax revenue. The plan would save nearly all the costs of a large state income tax administration and be more efficient, but who needs efficiency when America needs jobs.
All the states have a real property tax. The District of Columbia and 35 states levy a real property transfer tax, also known as a deed recordation tax, since tax liabilities incur at deed recordation. Although most states have local governments assess property values and set property tax rates, additional state bureaucracies and a state board of equalization oversee the process. Property taxes create jobs in that administrative time is required to determine assessed value and then more administrative time is needed to process and hear assessment appeals; all before collecting the tax. In Michigan, the courts got so bogged down with property tax fights, the legislature created a separate administrative law court, the Michigan Tax Tribunal, to settle property tax battles.
Sales taxes are well known state taxes. The District of Columbia and 45 states have a sales tax, and 8 states still tax food. More and more state legislatures allow local governments to levy an additional percent or two of local options sales tax. More and more states have started to extend their retail sales tax to services as well.
States will often add a use tax to accompany their sales tax. A use tax applies to all taxable items brought into a state or purchases from out-of-state retailers. Tax authorities want to discourage people from shopping in low price, or low tax states. Look on the North Dakota web site and the commissioner of revenue will tell you “In addition, tangible personal property not originally purchased for use in North Dakota is subject to a use tax based upon its fair market value at the time it was brought into the state.”
With more spending on services and legislatures hungry for revenue, some states have added gross receipts taxes. The Delaware commissioner of revenue tells website visitors “Delaware does not impose a state or local sales tax, but does impose a gross receipts tax … Unless otherwise specified by statute, the term "gross receipts" comprises the total receipts of a business received from goods sold and services rendered in the State.” The Commissioner seems to be kidding us that a gross receipts tax is different than a sales tax. Sales, use and gross receipts taxes compute a percentage of revenue paid in a transaction, or transactions, so the difference among them, if any, is miniscule.
Quite a few states have sales and use taxes and a selection of gross receipts taxes. Plans to raise a statewide sales tax generally draw media attention and statewide publicity. Opponents get organized. Plans to impose a 2 percent gross receipts tax on dry cleaning establishments may pass without notice. At least 9 states have a dry cleaning tax, which is sometimes a license fee, sometimes a gross receipts tax and sometimes both.
Some states do get carried away with their gross receipts taxes. New Jersey lists a fur clothing retail gross receipts tax, a cosmetic medical procedures gross receipts tax, the luxury & fuel inefficient vehicle surcharge and the litter control fee. All are gross receipts taxes. On the state’s website we read the litter tax will be $2.25 of every $10,000 of “gross receipts on retail sales of litter-generating products sold within or into New Jersey by each person engaged in business in the State as a manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor or retailer of such litter-generating products.”
Many know litter when they see it, but not in New Jersey where litter generating products means products “produced, distributed, or purchased in disposable containers, packages or wrappings; or not usually sold in packages, containers or wrappings but commonly discarded in public places; or of an unsightly or unsanitary nature commonly thrown, dropped, discarded, placed or deposited by a person on public property, or on private property not owned by him.” If there are any products exempted from the litter tax it is not obvious what they would be. Remember they had to have a lawyer job to write all the fancy prose.
Up in Illinois the state’s tax commissioner worries about fairs, festivals, flea markets, and craft shows. These are known to the commissioner as special events which are “a unique kind of business in which persons from other communities or states sell items to the public … Many times, the only fair and efficient way to collect the proper taxes is to have our collection agents personally register each vendor and collect taxes at the event.” How nice it is to know tax collectors are paid to attend craft shows and flea markets to collect taxes, but we have to hope they collect enough taxes to pay for their gas, and I suppose also their wage.
There are other close cousins of the sales, use and gross receipts tax. Severance taxes amount to gross receipts taxes in most situations in that taxes are usually a percentage of gross receipts from natural resource extraction. Public utility taxes typically end up being gross receipts taxes, but that is not universal. I can find 44 states with public utility taxes. Public utility taxes have many names: public utility gross receipts tax, utility gross receipts tax, telecommunications tax, telephony tax, mobile communications service tax, steam, gas and electric companies tax, electricity consumption tax, electric cooperatives fee and on and on.
Public utilities taxes can be gross receipts but they are often levied as an excise tax. An excise tax is similar to sales, use or gross receipts taxes in that all of them tax commercial transactions. Excise taxes tax quantity such as cents per gallon or cents per pound, and often levies fall on the manufacturing, or distribution part of the marketing chain and not just retail sales.
Since I am speaking of excise taxes do not forget tobacco, liquor, wine and beer. They are all favorites for excise taxes, although not the only ones. The federal government, the District of Columbia and all the states have a tobacco tax. Rhode Island has top honors here at $2.46 a pack for cigarettes, the median rings in at $.80. Most states tax everything sold that contains tobacco. Alabama does not want to leave anything to chance so they define taxable tobacco as cigarettes, cheroots, stogies, cigars, little cigars smoking tobacco chewing tobacco and snuff. Some states tax a percentage of the wholesale price, up to 90 percent in Massachusetts.
All the states get revenue from alcoholic beverage, but not always from taxes since 18 states maintain their own monopolies for distilled spirits. Alcoholic beverage taxes are all cents per gallon, but 42 states also apply their sales tax in addition to their excise charges. The tax rates are too varied and complex to describe, but liquor tax rates tend to be higher than wine, and wine rates higher than beer. They could simplify and tax by alcoholic content, but why have it simple when it can be complicated. At least six states have a special excise on soft drinks or soft drink syrup.
Probably you drive so it is hard to forget gasoline taxes, which are typically also an excise tax. Federal fuel taxes are 18.4 cents a gallon gasoline, 24.4 cents a gallon diesel. But the District of Columbia and all the states tax other fuels in addition.
Fuel taxes are just behind the federal income tax in complications, fighting and foolishness. Most of the trouble comes because the states cannot stand the spectacle of truckers buying low priced fuel in low tax states instead of high priced fuel in high tax states. Buying low priced gas for your car might seem like a normal choice. Low prices attract more business and the tendency is hardly a secret. If your neighborhood grocery charges $8.00 a gallon for milk you go to another grocery, but the states want to suspend shopping around and prevent truckers from doing what everyone else does everyday: buy at low prices.
If a trucker buys a tank of fuel in South Carolina where the diesel tax is 16 cents a gallon and then drives through North Carolina where the diesel tax is 30.15 cents per gallon, and they do not pay the extra North Carolina tax then authorities label them as criminals engaged in fraud. A whole bureaucracy of procedures, audits and enforcement tracks down the malefactors and threatens them with jail. Truckers are expected to keep detailed records of their fuel purchases and their mileage by state. They are expected to produce and document their records at any time. They are expected to pay high taxes on fuel in states where they did not buy fuel. Sometimes I hear that businesses are greedy and overcharge. I have not heard of any businesses that jail customers who buy at lower prices. It takes a state legislature and large bureaucracies with enforcement jobs for that.
However, the gasoline and diesel taxes are just two among a number of fuel related taxes. Try out the oil company franchise tax, motor carrier road tax, and taxes on aviation gasoline, jet fuel, gasohol, un-dyed diesel, un-dyed kerosene, compressed natural gas, propane/LPG, ethanol, methanol, liquefied natural gas, and electricity. Minnesota taxes wind power.
It is not enough to tax gasoline for cars. With cars we have car taxes and the DMV. Virginia taxes cars as personal property, but there are a variety of ways to extract revenue from automobiles. Try the vehicle rental tax, vehicle rental surcharge, rental car excise tax. A number of states tax tires such as the waste tire fee, tire user fee, tire excise tax, tire user surcharge, or charge a recycling fee for tires and batteries.
While you are out driving and traveling you may want to find some lodging, a place with room, bed and taxes. Expect to pay a lodging tax, hotel tax, room tax, transient room tax, room and cottage rentals tax, vacation rentals tax or a tourism tax. Oregon taxes tent sites. Most of the time these are gross receipts taxes but a few states make it an excise. About the same number of states also have meal taxes on meals and beverages. In all cases they work hard to get your money.
Many think business escapes taxation. This could be true, but before you make up your mind look at state taxation of business. Learn about corporate organization and qualification fees, all the states have them. Find out if your state has the corporate income tax or the corporate franchise tax, or the corporate business tax. In California its 8,84 percent of net income derived from business transacted in California, in Delaware 8.7 percent. Some states have a charge for each $1 or $1000 dollars of capital. Even if they do not collect any revenue from these corporations, they have some jobs doing it.
Insurance companies are singled out and taxed as their own category in some way or other in all the states. Insurance taxes go by several different names, but the tax takes a percentage of net premium receipts or a percentage of adjusted gross premiums where adjustments are made by carefully written procedures developed by the State’s Department of Finance and Revenue.
Did I mention Banks? All banks engaged in business in South Carolina are required to register and pay the annual bank tax. The tax is 4.5% of SC net income. Some states call their bank tax a financial institutions tax, such as Indiana. In Kentucky, they have the bank franchise tax, which is 1.1 percent of net capital assets after apportionment. It applies to every financial institution “regularly engaging in business in Kentucky if during any taxable year it obtains or solicits business with 20 or more persons within Kentucky, or if receipts attributable to sources in Kentucky equal or exceed $100,000.” Those regularly engaging in financial business fill out Form 73A801A, a form of 21 pages for the accountants, auditors and financial professionals who have to learn which assets to include or exclude from the total of capital assets after apportionment. Probably they do not mind though, they have salaried jobs to do the work.
Death brings death taxes in all the states. Only eleven states have inheritance taxes, but all the states have some kind of estate tax, although Virginia is getting serious about eliminating its estate tax. Both together are often referred to as death taxes. Estate taxes tax the value of a deceased persons assets and property after any allowable deductions. It reduces what is transferred to heirs or beneficiaries before ownership transfers. Inheritance taxes, if any, tax what heirs receive after they take ownership and possession. Many of the state’s estate taxes have a connection to the federal tax and amounts paid there. There is also the fiduciaries tax in a few states.
Having fun can be a do it yourself thing: a walk in the park or the home arts. Otherwise though, expect taxes with your fun. Click around a state tax website and find a few obscure links to the fun taxes. Quite a few states like the admissions tax, or some variation of it, like the riverboat admissions tax in Indiana and Illinois. Since riverboats are usually for gambling Indiana taxes gamblers when they get aboard and again with the riverboat wagering tax that takes 22.5 percent of adjusted gross receipts from gambling. States with legalized Casino gambling have gaming taxes, but casino gambling is not a requirement for gambling and gaming taxes. Pari-mutual wagering is almost always taxed. Some states tax charity gaming. Indiana has a charity gaming tax along with the other gaming taxes. Iowa has a social and charitable gambling tax, perhaps to prevent those avaricious folks running church raffles and bingo nights from getting too greedy and taking all the money they raise. Other states call it the bingo tax and some states charge a fee for the license they require to hold a bingo night. North Dakota has a bingo and pickle card tax. Illinois, one of America’s most innovative and entertaining tax states, has a pull tabs and jar games tax with License Fees.
Other fun and games taxes include the amusements tax in Arizona, the amusement machine tax in Arkansas and several other states, the watercraft excise tax in Washington, baseball stadium district taxes in Colorado and DC, the coin-operated device tax in Tennessee, boxing and wrestling exhibitions tax in New York. Many states insist on taxing vending machine revenue.
Not many know about the blueberry tax. The blueberry tax takes $.15 a pound out of Maine blueberry revenues. I looked for the blueberry tax in other states, but I could not find one. New Jersey is apparently America’s leading blueberry producer, but apparently without a blueberry tax.
Looking in other state websites for a blueberry tax took me to other agricultural states where I found the beef tax, which is a charge per head of cattle, and the corn tax, rice tax, wheat tax, potato tax, tobacco tax, soybean tax and my favorite tax, the catfish feed tax, which is in Arkansas at a rate of $.99 per ton.
Fish are good too, both for eating and taxing. There is the mahogany quahog tax, seed oyster tax, fishery resource landing tax, salmon enhancement tax, regional seafood development tax, enhanced food fish tax, which taxes those from Washington state in first commercial possession of fish at various rates like 5.92 cents per pound of Chinook, Coho, or Chum Salmon or 5.92 cents per gallon of Chinook, Coho, or Chum salmon eggs. Fish eggs. Don’t forget fish eggs.
With the growth of the Internet all the states and many of the local governments use websites to make it easy to get all the details of their taxation. For anyone interested in the details of taxation it is easy to Google or Yahoo a state’s website and study taxes to your hearts content. On this blog though we only need to see the bigger picture and that is why I summarize the three most important things to know in taxation and revenue. Take them one, two, three: jobs, jobs, jobs.
The minnow tax qualifies as a tiny tax, not because the tax yield is small, but because it applies to few people and goes unnoticed by nearly all of Michigan. Tiny taxes are easy to slip by the public unnoticed. We can hope the money collected for the minnow tax covers the wage costs of the people who collect it. Even it doesn’t, it is still a good tax for politicians. It generates jobs and politicians must be able to say jobs are rising and go easy on the details. As we will see below there are hundreds of tiny taxes generating jobs.
The relentless tide of productivity increases, the outsourcing of jobs abroad and the investment and movement of American manufacturing abroad has reduced millions of jobs in production occupations; 3.5 million since 1990. Tiny taxes along with the bigger and better known income, property and sales taxes create lots of tax collecting jobs.
The federal government collects the personal income tax, which is noted for its many forms and schedules and thick booklets of instructions. As recently as 1990 the IRS 1040 instruction book was 52 pages not counting the forms. In 2006 it swelled to 103 pages, not counting the forms and the pages of lost children. My favorite instruction for 2006 came from a list of exceptions. The exception is "Dividends attributable to periods totaling more the 366 days that you received on any share of preferred stock held for less than 91 days during the 180-period that began 90 days before the ex-dividend date." Even for someone who could understand when or how to apply this particular exception, would they know the ex-dividend date? Could they find the ex-dividend date?
It is popular around tax time for a Congressman or two to hold a press conference, waive some tax forms, and huff and puff in indignation at our complicated tax system. There are vows to do something, but they know perfectly well nothing will happen. The tax system is going to get more complicated: more forms, more worksheets, more booklets, more go here, more go there. It’s predictable because there is one powerful and consistent message that jumps out of every line of every page of tax forms and tax booklets. The message is employment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts employment as Tax Examiners and Tax Preparers at 138,000 in 2006. That total doesn't count employment in the cottage industries: paper, printing, software, books, accountants, lawyers, courts, the Post Office and, of course, tax advice. These are often high paying jobs for people of influence.
All that taxing work creates lots of jobs, but when the work is done there is nothing to drive, nothing to eat, nothing to wear. A large group of people writes checks to the government. Money is transferred, nothing else happens. It’s quite possible to end the income tax. Taxable income is almost identical with consumption spending because Americans save little as a society. Switch to a value added tax or sales tax and governments could still raise the necessary revenue without any income tax, and a tiny fraction of the present cost and work. Eliminating the income tax is administratively feasible, but it will not happen. It eliminates too much work.
But the federal personal income tax is just a start. The District of Columbia and 43 states have their own income tax with their own tax administration. They could declare that state residents will pay an income tax to their states as a percent of the federal tax and have the federal government collect and distribute the tax revenue. The plan would save nearly all the costs of a large state income tax administration and be more efficient, but who needs efficiency when America needs jobs.
All the states have a real property tax. The District of Columbia and 35 states levy a real property transfer tax, also known as a deed recordation tax, since tax liabilities incur at deed recordation. Although most states have local governments assess property values and set property tax rates, additional state bureaucracies and a state board of equalization oversee the process. Property taxes create jobs in that administrative time is required to determine assessed value and then more administrative time is needed to process and hear assessment appeals; all before collecting the tax. In Michigan, the courts got so bogged down with property tax fights, the legislature created a separate administrative law court, the Michigan Tax Tribunal, to settle property tax battles.
Sales taxes are well known state taxes. The District of Columbia and 45 states have a sales tax, and 8 states still tax food. More and more state legislatures allow local governments to levy an additional percent or two of local options sales tax. More and more states have started to extend their retail sales tax to services as well.
States will often add a use tax to accompany their sales tax. A use tax applies to all taxable items brought into a state or purchases from out-of-state retailers. Tax authorities want to discourage people from shopping in low price, or low tax states. Look on the North Dakota web site and the commissioner of revenue will tell you “In addition, tangible personal property not originally purchased for use in North Dakota is subject to a use tax based upon its fair market value at the time it was brought into the state.”
With more spending on services and legislatures hungry for revenue, some states have added gross receipts taxes. The Delaware commissioner of revenue tells website visitors “Delaware does not impose a state or local sales tax, but does impose a gross receipts tax … Unless otherwise specified by statute, the term "gross receipts" comprises the total receipts of a business received from goods sold and services rendered in the State.” The Commissioner seems to be kidding us that a gross receipts tax is different than a sales tax. Sales, use and gross receipts taxes compute a percentage of revenue paid in a transaction, or transactions, so the difference among them, if any, is miniscule.
Quite a few states have sales and use taxes and a selection of gross receipts taxes. Plans to raise a statewide sales tax generally draw media attention and statewide publicity. Opponents get organized. Plans to impose a 2 percent gross receipts tax on dry cleaning establishments may pass without notice. At least 9 states have a dry cleaning tax, which is sometimes a license fee, sometimes a gross receipts tax and sometimes both.
Some states do get carried away with their gross receipts taxes. New Jersey lists a fur clothing retail gross receipts tax, a cosmetic medical procedures gross receipts tax, the luxury & fuel inefficient vehicle surcharge and the litter control fee. All are gross receipts taxes. On the state’s website we read the litter tax will be $2.25 of every $10,000 of “gross receipts on retail sales of litter-generating products sold within or into New Jersey by each person engaged in business in the State as a manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor or retailer of such litter-generating products.”
Many know litter when they see it, but not in New Jersey where litter generating products means products “produced, distributed, or purchased in disposable containers, packages or wrappings; or not usually sold in packages, containers or wrappings but commonly discarded in public places; or of an unsightly or unsanitary nature commonly thrown, dropped, discarded, placed or deposited by a person on public property, or on private property not owned by him.” If there are any products exempted from the litter tax it is not obvious what they would be. Remember they had to have a lawyer job to write all the fancy prose.
Up in Illinois the state’s tax commissioner worries about fairs, festivals, flea markets, and craft shows. These are known to the commissioner as special events which are “a unique kind of business in which persons from other communities or states sell items to the public … Many times, the only fair and efficient way to collect the proper taxes is to have our collection agents personally register each vendor and collect taxes at the event.” How nice it is to know tax collectors are paid to attend craft shows and flea markets to collect taxes, but we have to hope they collect enough taxes to pay for their gas, and I suppose also their wage.
There are other close cousins of the sales, use and gross receipts tax. Severance taxes amount to gross receipts taxes in most situations in that taxes are usually a percentage of gross receipts from natural resource extraction. Public utility taxes typically end up being gross receipts taxes, but that is not universal. I can find 44 states with public utility taxes. Public utility taxes have many names: public utility gross receipts tax, utility gross receipts tax, telecommunications tax, telephony tax, mobile communications service tax, steam, gas and electric companies tax, electricity consumption tax, electric cooperatives fee and on and on.
Public utilities taxes can be gross receipts but they are often levied as an excise tax. An excise tax is similar to sales, use or gross receipts taxes in that all of them tax commercial transactions. Excise taxes tax quantity such as cents per gallon or cents per pound, and often levies fall on the manufacturing, or distribution part of the marketing chain and not just retail sales.
Since I am speaking of excise taxes do not forget tobacco, liquor, wine and beer. They are all favorites for excise taxes, although not the only ones. The federal government, the District of Columbia and all the states have a tobacco tax. Rhode Island has top honors here at $2.46 a pack for cigarettes, the median rings in at $.80. Most states tax everything sold that contains tobacco. Alabama does not want to leave anything to chance so they define taxable tobacco as cigarettes, cheroots, stogies, cigars, little cigars smoking tobacco chewing tobacco and snuff. Some states tax a percentage of the wholesale price, up to 90 percent in Massachusetts.
All the states get revenue from alcoholic beverage, but not always from taxes since 18 states maintain their own monopolies for distilled spirits. Alcoholic beverage taxes are all cents per gallon, but 42 states also apply their sales tax in addition to their excise charges. The tax rates are too varied and complex to describe, but liquor tax rates tend to be higher than wine, and wine rates higher than beer. They could simplify and tax by alcoholic content, but why have it simple when it can be complicated. At least six states have a special excise on soft drinks or soft drink syrup.
Probably you drive so it is hard to forget gasoline taxes, which are typically also an excise tax. Federal fuel taxes are 18.4 cents a gallon gasoline, 24.4 cents a gallon diesel. But the District of Columbia and all the states tax other fuels in addition.
Fuel taxes are just behind the federal income tax in complications, fighting and foolishness. Most of the trouble comes because the states cannot stand the spectacle of truckers buying low priced fuel in low tax states instead of high priced fuel in high tax states. Buying low priced gas for your car might seem like a normal choice. Low prices attract more business and the tendency is hardly a secret. If your neighborhood grocery charges $8.00 a gallon for milk you go to another grocery, but the states want to suspend shopping around and prevent truckers from doing what everyone else does everyday: buy at low prices.
If a trucker buys a tank of fuel in South Carolina where the diesel tax is 16 cents a gallon and then drives through North Carolina where the diesel tax is 30.15 cents per gallon, and they do not pay the extra North Carolina tax then authorities label them as criminals engaged in fraud. A whole bureaucracy of procedures, audits and enforcement tracks down the malefactors and threatens them with jail. Truckers are expected to keep detailed records of their fuel purchases and their mileage by state. They are expected to produce and document their records at any time. They are expected to pay high taxes on fuel in states where they did not buy fuel. Sometimes I hear that businesses are greedy and overcharge. I have not heard of any businesses that jail customers who buy at lower prices. It takes a state legislature and large bureaucracies with enforcement jobs for that.
However, the gasoline and diesel taxes are just two among a number of fuel related taxes. Try out the oil company franchise tax, motor carrier road tax, and taxes on aviation gasoline, jet fuel, gasohol, un-dyed diesel, un-dyed kerosene, compressed natural gas, propane/LPG, ethanol, methanol, liquefied natural gas, and electricity. Minnesota taxes wind power.
It is not enough to tax gasoline for cars. With cars we have car taxes and the DMV. Virginia taxes cars as personal property, but there are a variety of ways to extract revenue from automobiles. Try the vehicle rental tax, vehicle rental surcharge, rental car excise tax. A number of states tax tires such as the waste tire fee, tire user fee, tire excise tax, tire user surcharge, or charge a recycling fee for tires and batteries.
While you are out driving and traveling you may want to find some lodging, a place with room, bed and taxes. Expect to pay a lodging tax, hotel tax, room tax, transient room tax, room and cottage rentals tax, vacation rentals tax or a tourism tax. Oregon taxes tent sites. Most of the time these are gross receipts taxes but a few states make it an excise. About the same number of states also have meal taxes on meals and beverages. In all cases they work hard to get your money.
Many think business escapes taxation. This could be true, but before you make up your mind look at state taxation of business. Learn about corporate organization and qualification fees, all the states have them. Find out if your state has the corporate income tax or the corporate franchise tax, or the corporate business tax. In California its 8,84 percent of net income derived from business transacted in California, in Delaware 8.7 percent. Some states have a charge for each $1 or $1000 dollars of capital. Even if they do not collect any revenue from these corporations, they have some jobs doing it.
Insurance companies are singled out and taxed as their own category in some way or other in all the states. Insurance taxes go by several different names, but the tax takes a percentage of net premium receipts or a percentage of adjusted gross premiums where adjustments are made by carefully written procedures developed by the State’s Department of Finance and Revenue.
Did I mention Banks? All banks engaged in business in South Carolina are required to register and pay the annual bank tax. The tax is 4.5% of SC net income. Some states call their bank tax a financial institutions tax, such as Indiana. In Kentucky, they have the bank franchise tax, which is 1.1 percent of net capital assets after apportionment. It applies to every financial institution “regularly engaging in business in Kentucky if during any taxable year it obtains or solicits business with 20 or more persons within Kentucky, or if receipts attributable to sources in Kentucky equal or exceed $100,000.” Those regularly engaging in financial business fill out Form 73A801A, a form of 21 pages for the accountants, auditors and financial professionals who have to learn which assets to include or exclude from the total of capital assets after apportionment. Probably they do not mind though, they have salaried jobs to do the work.
Death brings death taxes in all the states. Only eleven states have inheritance taxes, but all the states have some kind of estate tax, although Virginia is getting serious about eliminating its estate tax. Both together are often referred to as death taxes. Estate taxes tax the value of a deceased persons assets and property after any allowable deductions. It reduces what is transferred to heirs or beneficiaries before ownership transfers. Inheritance taxes, if any, tax what heirs receive after they take ownership and possession. Many of the state’s estate taxes have a connection to the federal tax and amounts paid there. There is also the fiduciaries tax in a few states.
Having fun can be a do it yourself thing: a walk in the park or the home arts. Otherwise though, expect taxes with your fun. Click around a state tax website and find a few obscure links to the fun taxes. Quite a few states like the admissions tax, or some variation of it, like the riverboat admissions tax in Indiana and Illinois. Since riverboats are usually for gambling Indiana taxes gamblers when they get aboard and again with the riverboat wagering tax that takes 22.5 percent of adjusted gross receipts from gambling. States with legalized Casino gambling have gaming taxes, but casino gambling is not a requirement for gambling and gaming taxes. Pari-mutual wagering is almost always taxed. Some states tax charity gaming. Indiana has a charity gaming tax along with the other gaming taxes. Iowa has a social and charitable gambling tax, perhaps to prevent those avaricious folks running church raffles and bingo nights from getting too greedy and taking all the money they raise. Other states call it the bingo tax and some states charge a fee for the license they require to hold a bingo night. North Dakota has a bingo and pickle card tax. Illinois, one of America’s most innovative and entertaining tax states, has a pull tabs and jar games tax with License Fees.
Other fun and games taxes include the amusements tax in Arizona, the amusement machine tax in Arkansas and several other states, the watercraft excise tax in Washington, baseball stadium district taxes in Colorado and DC, the coin-operated device tax in Tennessee, boxing and wrestling exhibitions tax in New York. Many states insist on taxing vending machine revenue.
Not many know about the blueberry tax. The blueberry tax takes $.15 a pound out of Maine blueberry revenues. I looked for the blueberry tax in other states, but I could not find one. New Jersey is apparently America’s leading blueberry producer, but apparently without a blueberry tax.
Looking in other state websites for a blueberry tax took me to other agricultural states where I found the beef tax, which is a charge per head of cattle, and the corn tax, rice tax, wheat tax, potato tax, tobacco tax, soybean tax and my favorite tax, the catfish feed tax, which is in Arkansas at a rate of $.99 per ton.
Fish are good too, both for eating and taxing. There is the mahogany quahog tax, seed oyster tax, fishery resource landing tax, salmon enhancement tax, regional seafood development tax, enhanced food fish tax, which taxes those from Washington state in first commercial possession of fish at various rates like 5.92 cents per pound of Chinook, Coho, or Chum Salmon or 5.92 cents per gallon of Chinook, Coho, or Chum salmon eggs. Fish eggs. Don’t forget fish eggs.
With the growth of the Internet all the states and many of the local governments use websites to make it easy to get all the details of their taxation. For anyone interested in the details of taxation it is easy to Google or Yahoo a state’s website and study taxes to your hearts content. On this blog though we only need to see the bigger picture and that is why I summarize the three most important things to know in taxation and revenue. Take them one, two, three: jobs, jobs, jobs.
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