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From: stiv@stat5.rice.edu (david n stivers)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.high-end
Subject: Re: IMPORTANT:  Call/Write your Congressman
Message-ID: <6578@uwm.edu>
Date: 25 Sep 90 12:49:17 GMT
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Approved: tjk@csd4.csd.uwm.edu

In article <6541@uwm.edu> kucharsk@dancer.Solbourne.COM (William Kucharski) writes:
>This is an important plea to phone/write your Congressman and tell him how you
>feel.  According to a report in this morning's Denver Rocky Mountain News, one
>of the taxes being talked about by Congress (like the increased beer tax) is a
>10% luxury tax on the cost of electronic items over $1000.  For example, this
>means if you bought a $2700 pair of speakers, you'd have to pay an additional
>$170 luxury tax.
>
Is a speaker really an electronic device?  I guess you could consider
it so if you counted the crossover-then maybe it could be could be sold
separately as an accessory?

>Considering that high-end audio is one of the only areas of consumer electronics
>which consists of only American products, that fact alone should, at least
                        ^^^^^^^^ you mean US made?(sorry, just being nit-picky)
>theoretically, give the folks in Washington food for thought.

While a luxury tax is arguably (though not in this forum) a good idea, it does
seem somewhat ironic that a tax that is almost certainly aimed at the Japanese
would have serious effects on the few remaining US consumer electronics
manufacturers.  However, don't forget that there are a large number of high-end
electronic products that are not made in the US, eg. Bryston, Linn (if by your
definition of high-end you mean items that cost >$1000).  If they truly are
attempting to aim at the Japanese, than $1000 is a ridiculously high figure.
If they're not, I would argue that there are better places to start implementing
a luxury tax than consumer audio equipment, and its effect on US manufacturers
would be only one point (self interest? moi?).



david n stivers stiv@rice.edu