Service & Environmental fees and Taxes....

[Upthevibe]

So I'm in Dallas working for my friend who has a small business. I'm looking at the bill for when she had her carpet cleaned. It was $380 + Tax ($31.35) + Environmental Fee ($18.36) to total $429.71.

I live in California. I don't ever remember paying these fees & taxes on things like getting my carpet cleaned but my roommate handles that.

My friend said it's probably because California has a state income tax and Texas doesn't (which, of course, they brag about). Do they have these extra fees in lieu of state income tax?

Thanks for any feedback...

[jimfields33]

1. Some places add the fees to the total without breakdown.

[quaint]

2. Environmental Fee is to mitigate the cost of creating, transporting, and disposing of the water.

That's the claim.

[Torchlight]

3. TX has what (I presume) many other states would consider high sales and use taxes

Total (non-federal) sales taxes in some jurisdictions are as high as 8.25%.

Our property taxes, among the highest in the nation, are also becoming counterproductive to home sales.

I think our lack of a state income tax is more than countered with our excessively high sales taxes, but it's all a wash in the end I figure.