The Tax Man Wants A Slice of the…Bagel?
Bagel lovers, beware! In order to provide more tax revenue for the cash-strapped state, NY plays Goliath to the Brueggers bagel company.
Picking out some obscure tidbit in the state sales tax law, NYS has successfully forced this company to cough up additional tax revenue…on sliced bagels and items eaten in-house. A nice chunk of dough for the tax man, indeed.
Interestingly enough, the rule isn’t explicitly stated in the tax code. Some sliced items (bagels) are taxable, but others, such as sliced bread, are not. These differences are inconsistent at best. Worse, they’ve only targeted Brueggers– presumably because it owns 33 franchises.
Seems as if the State Department of Taxation doesn’t even know its own code; the WSJ reports that NYS “will provide additional guidance via our Web site and publications in the near future.“. Guess they can continue to make up the rules as they go along and as needed. In New York, what else is new?