Gideon from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0 Known to many as the “Paint Tax,” New Hampshire House Bill 451 would impose a new government fee on every can of paint sold in the state. Those new tax dollars would go to the American Coaters Association, an industry nonprofit that would partner with retailers like Home Depot to collect old cans of paint and recycle the chemicals.
While the bill has good intentions, it is a solution in search of a problem. Local governments in New Hampshire have successfully dealt with the problem of old paint for decades. Municipalities put on “Hazardous Waste Days” – an opportunity for residents to drop off anything in need of special disposal, including the paint that makes up about half of the volume of collections. There is no need to create a new government program specifically for paint – or a new tax to fund it.
Moreover, no matter what you call it, a tax is a tax. Requiring a surcharge for all consumers who buy a certain product may be a more effective way to collect tax dollars, but it still, on net, brings in more money for the government, all while requiring more bureaucrats working more hours to administer the program.
It’s worth noting that not everyone who buys paint would need to use the recycling program to begin with. Many folks use the entire can, leaving no leftover paint to dispose of. Others do it the old-fashioned way – dumping a bit of kitty litter into latex-based paint to thicken it up and render the old liquid harmless, at which point it is perfectly safe to throw away. The proposed tax in HB 451 would hit all of these consumers anyway, forcing them to take responsibility for the actions of their neighbors.
New Hampshire is known for its low-tax, small-government approach to social issues, and it ought to maintain that reputation by rejecting the Paint Tax and any other “nuisance taxes” that may be small, but bring increased costs, bureaucracy, and harm to specific constituencies.
Americans for Tax Reform firmly opposes HB 451 and urges the New Hampshire Senate to vote NO on this bill that would slap unnecessary new fees on industrious Granite Staters looking to improve their homes.
