Hidden Taxes & Fees - Have You Ever Added Them Up?

**many houseapes** · 01-04-2008, 11:07 AM

All of last year I have kept a record of everything that was spent...and some of the catagories were taxes and 'fees"(another nice name for an added tax)that are placed within utility bills,mortgage payments - even your car registration is considered a tax. Another catagory is how much we spent on sales taxes and here is what I tallied up:

For the taxes & fees within the utility bills, etc. we shelled out $2,782.71
For the sales taxes we shelled out $1,003.78
Grand total of....$3,786.49

EEEEKKKK!!!! I'm in total shock.
We try our hardest to keep the utility bills down & watch how much we shop.
The biggest ticket items that would generate a big sales tax this year are the stove and washer that needed to be replaced and the tax on the repairs that the van needed this summer.
Scarey how things add up...I wish that we could turn off our utilities to cut out what the companies sneak into our bills.
Anyone else keeping tabs on these extras??

**Jamauk** · 01-04-2008, 11:10 AM

I used to work for a phone company - its not the companies that are sneaking these fees onto the bill. Its the gov't.

For a while, we were paying more in taxes and fees on our phone than we were for our service (before we bundled internet with it)

Its sickening!

**LexTysMommy** · 01-04-2008, 11:15 AM

That is crazy. No I never added it up, just paid it. Good idea though, I will go look at a years of electric "fees". Thanks!

**many houseapes** · 01-04-2008, 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by Jamauk

I used to work for a phone company - its not the companies that are sneaking these fees onto the bill. Its the gov't.

For a while, we were paying more in taxes and fees on our phone than we were for our service (before we bundled internet with it)

Its sickening!

I know, our phone bill is a nightmare. We make no long distance phone calls & yet nearly half of the bill is all taxes & fees.GGGRRR

**monkeywrangler71** · 01-04-2008, 11:40 AM

I have a class for tax in quicken, so if I have a receipt for an item I will indicate which portion is tax. I had tax categories at first, but found the classes worked better because I can put them on any category (so groceries/tax or clothing/tax). I still know how much my total spending was in a certain area, but can break down how much was tax. This paragraph probably only makes sense for someone who uses Quicken

Anyway, I never thought to break down the utility bills, so I will start that this year. I missed a few things because I didn't get the receipts, but of what I recorded we paid $368.76 in sales tax.