Issue 266 Don't tax schools or clinics Febuary 6, 2014

Some of you are saying what? Schools and clinics? Yes Schools and Clinics (hospitals and doctors offices) is exactly what I am talking about. Specifically, I am referring to privately run schools and clinics where individuals, not government, run and operate these institutions as a business. They are unfortunately taxed in various ways and that should stop.

Schools: Schools like private schools, charter schools and even personal tutors are taxed. Some are taxed based on business income like private and charter schools. They may even be taxed based on the property that the school sits on. Private tutors are taxed based on their personal income in much the same way teachers are taxed on theirs. That is a lot of taxation to go around which drives up the costs of educating children for the next generation. As such, I say stop taxing the schools (both income and property tax) and stop taxing the teachers and the private tutors as well. This frees up money for educating kids or giving the teachers higher pay. If a private school could keep more of the money they earn they may be able to hire another teacher to educate more children. A teacher could get more money so as to get by. Tutors could afford to take on additional students. Charters could struggle less with money and also possibly hire more teachers to educate more children. Just by eliminating the taxes on these institutions and people alone, we can expand educational opportunities or give teachers a well deserved raise.

Clinics: When I say clinics, I use the name loosely. In this case I include hospitals, doctor’s offices, specialists and anything in-between. So did you know that doctors that own their own practice pay business taxes as well? They are in no way exempt from the tax structure and this artificially inflates the cost of health care. As I am sure you would agree, anything that makes health care more costly in a very bad thing. Therefore, stop taxing these hospitals and doctors offices. These people play a major role in maintaining people’s health and that money saved could go instead to expanding the doctor’s office to handle more patients. Hospitals would be able to invest in better and more advanced equipment. Smaller doctor’s offices would be able to have more flexibility in what equipment and resources they use with respect to treating patients. It may even make it feasible for doctors to visit you instead of you going to them. Expanded further, not taxing doctors income also advances these possibilities, especially for doctors that own their own practices. Also, let us not forget, this saved money can also mean cheaper prices for doctor’s visits as well.

Conclusion: Yet another two places where taxes should be abolished. I do not care if some doctors make six figure salaries or that private and charter schools make a profit by educating children. The fact is that these institutions and people do an essential service for the public at large. Think about it, teachers not only educate our kids, but also look after them while we work. Doctors deal with multitudes of the sick and infirm all day long exposing themselves to diseases that could potentially harm them as well (and not to mention grumpy patients). We can afford to not tax these people who deserve our thanks and admiration. So let's do just that by not making it harder for them to give of themselves, by not taxing them further.