I came across a news story today that reported on how happy both Dish Network And DirecTV were to learn that a U.S. House committee has agreed to continue moving forward on an bill that would ban the imposition of state sales taxes differently for different video providers.

Apparently, six states have imposed taxes on satellite TV service, and despite their legal efforts, the satellite TV companies have not been able to get the taxes struck down. The companies argue that satellite TV service has no local presence in their states and is therefore not subject to state sales taxes.

That sounds like a perfectly reasonable argument to me, but apparently greedy legislators in six states don’t see it that way. After all, there are mismanaged projects to pay for in some states, like Boston’s "Big Dig" for example. Check it out.

Although the bill still has a long way to go before passage, the satellite TV companies are hopeful that the new measure will become law.

Really, is there anything politicians in some states won’t tax? I left Massachusetts about 10 years ago, partly to avoid high taxes there. I live in New Hampshire now, where the tax burden is much more reasonable.

We have no state income tax, no state sales tax and no state capital gains tax. All of which Massachusetts still has, and our highways and roads here in New Hampshire make the roads down in Massachusetts look pathetic. I know from experience since my parents still live in Massachusetts and I’ve been down to visit them many times in recent years.

The old argument against people who said they wanted to leave Massachusetts and move to New Hampshire to escape high taxes used to be that the property taxes were a lot higher in New Hampshire. At one time that was true, but from what I hear lately, Massachusetts has caught up with New Hampshire.

My parents are now paying about the same amount in property taxes on their home as we are. Our homes are of similar size, although their lot is about three-quarters of an acre and we have almost 20 acres. I think the old argument about high property taxes in New Hampshire vs. Massachusetts is dead.

I do not know if Massachusetts is one of the states that has imposed a sales tax on satellite TV, but it certainly would not surprise me if it was. It continues to amaze me how we seem to get by quite nicely here in New Hampshire with no income, sales or capital gains tax. Why can’t Massachusetts do the same?

You know, I would not be surprised to receive a tax bill in the mail some day from the state of Massachusetts with an amount that represented each day of the year that the wind blew into New Hampshire from a southerly direction and we Granite Staters were all were all breathing Massachusetts air.

Maybe I shouldn’t be giving them any new ideas. Not that I’d pay the bill anyway.

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Tags: Satellite TV, State, Taxes, U.S. House