Taxes, Fees and surcharges...they add up

[mickeyd]

This is from my USAA auto policy ~"Notice: AN ASSESSMENT OF $0.06 IS PAYABLE UNDER THIS POLICY. THIS ASSESSMANT WAS CREATED BY THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE TO FUND THE RURAL VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT PROGRAM." (Uppercase is theirs)

 

[braumeister]

Yeah, Kentucky does that too, with a vengeance. State, county, and city each have a surcharge on my car insurance premium. Add them up and it's over 13% extra tacked on to the insurance cost. I had never seen that before in other states.

 

[Amethyst]

I read the instruction book that comes with our upcoming "all expenses included" tour and learned that we are expected to tip our drivers and tour guides. That does not sound like "everything included" to me...it sounds like a way to keep the price down!

As my Dad used to say - "Everybody's got his hand out."

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

i think on my USAA i pay 5 bucks law enforcement fee

This is from my USAA auto policy ~"Notice: AN ASSESSMENT OF $0.06 IS PAYABLE UNDER THIS POLICY. THIS ASSESSMANT WAS CREATED BY THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE TO FUND THE RURAL VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT PROGRAM." (Uppercase is theirs)

i need to find my policy but im sure i pay something like that

 

[meierlde]

I never really did quite get why the taxes are so high for car rentals.

It at least used to be possible to rent from an off airport location and not pay all the fees. If there is still a difference a cab to the off airport location and pick up the car, drop it there and a cab back to the airport might well be cheaper.

 

[scrabbler1]

One time, my mom and I flew on a corporate jet from NY to Houston and we were renting a car from a rental agency located just outside the airport. The company who owned the jet offered to drive us to the rental agency. I knew to tell the desk agent when we picked up the car that we did not use the airport shuttle bus so we wouldn't have to pay the 10% surcharge.

 

[travelover]

It at least used to be possible to rent from an off airport location and not pay all the fees. If there is still a difference a cab to the off airport location and pick up the car, drop it there and a cab back to the airport might well be cheaper.

I do this in Portland several times a year. The train runs right from the airport to downtown, where rentals are literally half as much as at the airport. Often I return the car to the airport for a small fee, or even for free.

 

[USGrant1962]

Yes. Every year I try to figure out my total tax burden. I can figure federal, state, local income tax; property tax; sales tax; and FICA. But then there is all the stuff OP listed (most are taxes but some are charges by private companies that you have some [limited] choice on).

Doing this calculation is one of the factors that drove me to ER!

 

[marko]

For just one day last year I tracked all the fees and taxes I spend on normal everyday errands (gas tax, meals tax, dry cleaner fee, groceries, grocery bag fee, sales tax on small items, etc).

It came to about $7 a day or about $200 a month.

 

[Amethyst]

And it's a regressive tax. Hits everybody, even poor people.

For just one day last year I tracked all the fees and taxes I spend on normal everyday errands (gas tax, meals tax, dry cleaner fee, groceries, grocery bag fee, sales tax on small items, etc).

It came to about $7 a day or about $200 a month.