Ky or Tenn?

[mdawg]

Originally Posted by KerryB

I think that's a fair assessment. I have a few "outlaw" cousins that are still in E KY who are drug abusers. One I was really close to & I know for a fact he's a good kid (well, man now). He would always call me up to talk after he got high & cry on the phone to me about how he hated his life & wished he could just leave. But he never really had many options, his family is kinda poor, he doesnt have much of an education, etc.

Its unfortunate, but I think there are so many people like him that just feel hopeless that they turn to drugs. The poverty, unemployment levels & isolation of the area just make it worse.

For me, living in some urban cities & then going back to visit E KY, its strikingly similar to many problems that an inner city ghetto has. It's just in a different setting with different types of people. Mountains instead of broken down buildings, white teenage mothers on welfare instead of black ones, exotic prescription drugs instead of crack, etc. I know many people are gonna read this & say "that's f'ing BS", but its seriously true.

I totally agree. People living in the inner city can be just as isolated, if not more, than people in E KY. Isolated because of different reasons, definitely. Poverty and unemployment are big factors in the inner city that contributes to drug use. I think the mentality some people have in both areas are the pretty much the same. They feel hopeless/angry/depressed and turn to drugs. Not to say this can't happen anywhere, and it does, but there is a larger concentration in E KY and the inner city.

[shinestx]

Originally Posted by mdawg

Well if you bought a truck in KY and paid less in sales tax but registered it in TN and paid their use tax on it, wouldn't that still come out to be less than if you bought the same truck in TN, paid a higher TN sales tax on it and then paid TN's use tax?

It's been years since I went with my dad (three times) to buy a car in KY, but I'm pretty sure that tax reciprocity for sales tax applies to big ticket items. Basically, (at the time, I know) the sales tax was applied according to residence of buyer. Now that was 25-30 years ago, and my father bought the new cars from friends in Scottsville and Franklin, and I'm sure he got a better deal there than he would have in Nashville. Curiously, here in Hamilton County (Chattanooga), I know a lot of people who live in Hamilton and own businesses in Catoosa, GA. They register their cars in GA. Not sure why, as the tags/taxes are not significantly different (and I think could be even higher in GA).

Check it out... as it may still be the case across the border. Somebody may have more depth on the question. Sorry but I've never bought a new car in TN.

[shinestx]

Keep in mind also, that there is a sliding scale for taxes on big-ticket items.... so that the differential is not nearly as great as would be on, say, an article of clothing... or tires, etc.

Apparently, it is capped at 2.75% on any tax amount in excess of $1600 (if I read that correctly).

From the TN Revenue site: http://tennessee.gov/revenue/tntaxes/salesanduse.htm (broken link)

Tax Rates:
State Tax - The sales tax rate on food is 5.5%. All other tangible personal property, unless specifically exempted, is 7%.
State Single Article Rates - 2.75% on any single item sold in excess of $1,600 but not more than $3,200
Use Tax - same as the sales tax rate
Local Tax - set by the local government - see local tax chart

Also, I don't know about KY, but TN has no sales taxes on services.