Albany, NY – Death taxes are apparently a sure thing in New York.
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A state audit finds that the $8 fee paid by cemeteries every time someone is buried is bringing in about $73,000 more each year than is disbursed for maintenance and repairing damage from the weather and vandals.
New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says the state Cemetery Board should consider revising its fees, which brought in about $2.2 million to the state over the last five years. During that time, $1.8 million was paid from the fund that covers repair and maintenance for all 1,900 state-regulated cemeteries in New York.
The findings come as most other state revenue sources — including income and business taxes — are dropping, contributing to a forecast of billions of dollars in budget deficits.
And they Tax the Dead too….
Now we must inform all the dead people about this change. I went to the grave yesterday to inform some of my dead relatives about this new tax change and they said to leave a message and they will return my message in 200 years? My dead relatives still have a sense of humor.
The operating cemeteries that pay the fee are not the abandoned ones who need it for repairs. The 8 dollars paid by a cemetery getting thousands of dollars for a plot and services is actually considerably less than the NY state sales tax. The moral of the story? Always carry 8 dollars in your pocket because you never know when you might die. You don’t want the state to be mad at you.