Christmas Tree Tax Causes Uproar
The Obama Administration has imposed a 15-cent tax on the season’s most iconic symbol, the Christmas tree, causing Conservatives to take aim at the president.
The U.S. Agriculture Department added the fee in an attempt to pay for a new board created to promote the Christmas tree industry. The fee and board were announced Tuesday in the Federal Register and will be effective Wednesday.
The department’s announcement confirmed that the tax will apply on “producers and importers” of fresh Christmas trees as long as they sell or import more than 500 trees a year, according to Fox News.
The change has outraged some Conservatives – including Rep. Steve Scalise.
“It is shocking that President Obama tried to sneak through this new tax on Christmas trees,” said Scalise in a statement Wednesday.
Christmas tree growers are paying the fee though, saying that the additional money will help their industry with a promotional campaign to combat the recent popularity of artificial trees.
Past president of the California Christmas Tree Association, Don Cameron spoke to the Miami Herald about the tax.
“As demographics and buying habits have changed we have watched the market for real trees shrink drastically, requiring us to spend much more time and money on promotion,” said Cameron.
The California association released a statement that further rejected the claim that customers would have to pay an additional fee on the Christmas staple, saying it “is not expected to have any impact on the final price consumers pay for their Christmas tree.”
The group added that most of the growers who weighed in on the decision agreed with the tax proposal.
The new board announced by the Agriculture Department Tuesday would contain 12 members who will direct the tax money to generic ads and research for promoting fresh Christmas trees, which is hoped to spur growth of the market.
