Bruegger’s Bagels is in trouble with the New York Department of Taxation and Finance, but not for something they did. It’s something they didn’t do. Apparently, in New York, if you cut a bagel, you have to charge sales tax for it, whereas unsliced bagels go sales-tax free. Bruegger’s is accused of the heinous crime of forgetting to charge sales tax on sliced bagels!
Apparently, in New York, the act of slicing a bagel in half turns it from a grocery item into a prepared food item. That means the bagel goes from untaxed to taxed with the swipe of a knife. (There’s no telling what happens to it if you add butter; maybe then it becomes a gift and you get a 50% tax rate!) The 33 franchises of the bagel chain in New York face hefty fines for their lax status on fee collection.
Bruegger’s Bagels now has a new sign on its registers: “New York State is requiring that all sliced bagels and all food eaten on our premises be taxed. We apologize for this change and share in your frustration of this additional tax.”
Tags: bagel tax, tax only on sliced bagels, sliced bagel tax, New York, unusual taxes, food taxes, unsliced bagels not taxed, Bruegger’s Bagels, unusual tax laws, unusual laws, taxes, Department of Taxation and Finance
