# Fucking bag tax **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 15, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947 "2012-02-15T17:59:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/1 "2012-02-15T17:59:50Z")
This is pretty weak, I admit right off the bat, but it’s a pretty big annoyance in my life. In DC and Montgomery County, MD stores must charge 5¢ for each bag. For the record, I get it: save resources, reduce waste, reduce pollution, etc. I get it. I should and do have my own reusable bags. I get it. BUT… I’m generally on foot. Sometimes I have to stop by the store on the way home from work, and I’m not going to walk around with reusable grocery bags all the time just in case I may have to run into the store. Sometimes I just forget to bring my bags. Sorry. So sometimes I have to spent a few extra cents for bags from the store. I don’t care about the money. I completely understand the reasoning for it. But that brings me to my beef with the bag tax, **which is not actually really even about the bag tax** , but anyways here it is: If I have to pay for them now, can the stores _PLEASE_ start getting **better quality bags**? Those 3-micron thick pieces of shit they’ve been using for years rip open the second they encounter a cardboard corner, or even just the corner of a plastic chips bag, spilling my groceries all over the goddamn street. I’m not just chucking them in the car, I’ve got to walk about 3/4 of a mile, crossing a pretty major street and going both down and uphill. When the bags were free I’d have to triple bag them to ensure they made it home intact, and even then they barely made it. Fucking cheap-ass bags! ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/2 "2012-02-15T18:24:43Z")
Hey, at least you can _get_ plastic bags. Around here (San Jose, CA) the enviro-nuts have decided that plastic bags are A Bad Thing ™ and voted that we’re not allowed to have them anymore. Which means I have to remember to bring reusable bags to the store, and I no longer have a bunch of plastic ones to use for cleaning my catboxes. All because somebody decided that plastic bags are too dangerous to trust the populace with. We can buy paper bags. For 10 cents each. Going up to 25 cents each in 2014. And they make lousy catbox cleaning bags. Yeah, I’m a little bitter over this. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/3 "2012-02-15T18:30:21Z")
If your principal concern is with the breakage, you could pay to double-bag (if you can stand the ocular dagger assault from nearby environmentalists). Think of it as a tax for not carrying your bags with you all the time. ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/4 "2012-02-15T18:30:51Z")
Without regard to the right or wrong of an issue, I do take exception to the idea that taxation is used to modify social behavior. It just strikes me as wrong, especially because the least fortunate people out there are hurt more by being dinged 5, 10 or 25 cents at a time, than those who have plenty of cash. I just think there are better ways to try to clean up the environment without putting the burden on the poor, those folks more likely to need a few bags to carry some groceries onto a bus or a few blocks home. My 2 cents (or 5 cents in this case) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/5 "2012-02-15T18:42:41Z")
Is it actually a tax or is the store charging you? I only ask because if it’s an actual tax that the government gets then the store can’t use it to buy more expensive bags. If they did get more expensive bags they would just have to pass that cost off to the consumer in one way or another. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/6 "2012-02-15T18:49:38Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Is it actually a tax or is the store charging you? I only ask because if it’s an actual tax that the government gets then the store can’t use it to buy more expensive bags. If they did get more expensive bags they would just have to pass that cost off to the consumer in one way or another. Varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In DC the government takes 3 cents and the store gets two. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/7 "2012-02-15T18:53:25Z")
It’s a tax. I hear what you’re saying, but before the tax the store didn’t care how many bags you took; in the self-checkout lane I could take the whole ream of bags and no would give a shit. Even the checkers double-bagged everything pretty much automatically because they knew what POS’s they (the bags) were. Now that there’s the tax, not only must I accurately estimate exactly how many bags I’ll need (because you have to purchase the bags before you get to use them), but that cost doubles or triples if I want the bags to make it all the way home. If I and everyone else only single-bags our things now, the cost of everything in the store isn’t going to go down. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/8 "2012-02-15T18:56:22Z")
Not to mention the fact that the baggers (at least at my store) stuff the purchased bags so full of items (because the customer has to pay for each bag) that I’m amazed they make it out the door. And the customers seem to be _okay_ with this. \ ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/9 "2012-02-15T18:57:27Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In DC the government takes 3 cents and the store gets two. Silly question…does the government require the 5¢ charge or do they require the store to pay 3¢ per bag and the store can charge whatever they want (or nothing) above and beyond that? At my store our “fucking cheap ass bags” cost $19.25 for 1000 (with our logo) which is just shy of 2¢ each. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/10 "2012-02-15T19:03:02Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Hey, at least you can _get_ plastic bags. Around here (San Jose, CA) the enviro-nuts have decided that plastic bags are A Bad Thing ™ and voted that we’re not allowed to have them anymore. Which means I have to remember to bring reusable bags to the store, and I no longer have a bunch of plastic ones to use for cleaning my catboxes. All because somebody decided that plastic bags are too dangerous to trust the populace with. > > We can buy paper bags. For 10 cents each. Going up to 25 cents each in 2014. And they make lousy catbox cleaning bags. > > Yeah, I’m a little bitter over this. We use 'em for lot’s of stuff too. We can still get them in Colorado. I sometimes grab an extra one or two. Anyway 1000 grocery bags from bags from Amazon, 26 bucks - [http://www.amazon.com/T-Shirt-Carry-Out-Bags-Recyclable-Plastic/product-reviews/B001EGZXK6/ref=dp\_top\_cm\_cr\_acr\_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1](http://www.amazon.com/T-Shirt-Carry-Out-Bags-Recyclable-Plastic/product-reviews/B001EGZXK6/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1) ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/11 "2012-02-15T19:05:08Z")
Question. When paying for the evil bags, do the cashiers hold up the line while determining how many bags are required to load up the coupon queen’s cart load of bargains? That would piss me off a tad. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/12 "2012-02-15T19:07:54Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Silly question…does the government require the 5¢ charge or do they require the store to pay 3¢ per bag and the store can charge whatever they want (or nothing) above and beyond that? > > At my store our “fucking cheap ass bags” cost $19.25 for 1000 (with our logo) which is just shy of 2¢ each. My understanding of DC’s law (which isn’t deep - I only know a little about several of these around the country because I write POS\* software) is that the government gets 3 cents, and the store gets one cent for the bag and a second cent if the store offers a discount for using one’s own bag. I guess you could charge whatever you want to - you could before the law went into effect. I bet places sell reusable bags for a buck or two. But the negative publicity from charging more for a disposable bag makes everybody charge exactly 5 cents for the bags that used to be free. \*Point-of-Sale. Not piece of shit. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/13 "2012-02-15T19:08:45Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Silly question…does the government require the 5¢ charge or do they require the store to pay 3¢ per bag and the store can charge whatever they want (or nothing) above and beyond that? > > At my store our “fucking cheap ass bags” cost $19.25 for 1000 (with our logo) which is just shy of 2¢ each. I don’t know about DC, but in Montgomery county it is a tax, the county keeps 4 cents, the store 1. This applies to all bags, paper bags included. It’s strange though, some places, like Subway, do the charges, others do not. Also, and while I haven’t seen them enforce it in awhile, we’re required to recycle our newspapers in brown bags, which now means that I’m supposed to pay to recycle the damn “free” newspapers I get twice a week now. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/14 "2012-02-15T19:13:08Z")
$0.25 for a bag that costs less than $0.01. There’s alot to be said for buying a bundle and selling them outside the store for less than $0.25 each to folks who forgot to bring their own bags. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/15 "2012-02-15T19:13:27Z")
The first time I went to the Giant in Silver Spring under the new bag tax, they didn’t have any bags at the end of the self-checkout lanes. So you paid for your bags with the little barcode swipe thingy, then you had to go track down a manager to actually get your hands on the damned things from the customer service desk. Maybe they were having a problem with people not understanding the policy or stealing the bags, but it was a pain in the ass. Fortunately, enough people must have complained (I did) that they put the bags back in their regular spot and it seems to be working smoothly. It looks like a good 60% of people are bringing their own. I agree about the quality of the bags. I use them to clean the cat’s box and I’m constantly having to double-bag everything because most of the bags have rips in them and I don’t want cat shit spilling out on the carpet. It’s doubly galling when you paid for the bag. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/16 "2012-02-15T19:14:08Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > I don’t know about DC, but in Montgomery county it is a tax, the county keeps 4 cents, the store 1. This applies to all bags, paper bags included. It’s strange though, some places, like Subway, do the charges, others do not. Apparently [it operates on the “honor system”:](http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/BagTax1-12-12) > [@](#): > > …county representatives say the county’s enforcement of the law relies on residents and businesses “ratting” on one another. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/17 "2012-02-15T19:14:21Z")
So if the county/state is forcing the store to charge 5¢ but only collecting 3¢ that’s kind of interesting since, as I stated above, bags cost (us) about 2¢ each. They’re basically charging the consumer to get a bag, but they’re providing them for free to the store. I suppose they could be trying to provide an incentive for the store to use higher quality bags (such as LDPE instead of HDPE (the crinkly kind)) which will last longer by attempting to offset the cost. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/18 "2012-02-15T19:18:38Z")
Shopper’s Food Warehouse in northern VA, used to charge for bags but I guess they couldn’t compete with other stores so they are free now. There you bagged your own and they would ask how many bags you wanted and charge accordingly. While I like the point of discouraging bag use, I don’t get to decide how many to use. The store does that, generally putting one item per bag except for really small items. I once tried to get them to put two items in one bag and the clerk made it clear that they couldn’t be responsible for my stupid choices. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/19 "2012-02-15T19:22:30Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Shopper’s Food Warehouse in northern VA, used to charge for bags but I guess they couldn’t compete with other stores so they are free now. There you bagged your own and they would ask how many bags you wanted and charge accordingly. I remember when the Shoppers opened by my parent’s house (many years ago; it’s become something else now), they charged extra for bags but had a bin of empty produce boxes next to the checkout lanes that you could take and use for free. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/20 "2012-02-15T19:22:43Z")
So is a fucking bag kind of like a sleeping bag, only more active. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947.md?page=2)