Credit card companies are to blame, not state
The letter regarding the fee for filing state taxes (March 31) raises a few interesting points. The gentleman is right to feel abused, but his anger is misdirected. It is not free for the North Carolina Department of Revenue to accept payment by credit card. Like all retailers who choose to accept credit cards, they must pay the credit card company a fee of roughly 2 percent of the transaction plus a usage fee (typically about 35 cents per transaction).
If the N.C. Department of Revenue did not pass this fee along to taxpayers they would be losing 2 percent of tax revenues every time our credit card-dependent population chose this payment method. As taxpayers, we should be thankful this fee is passed along directly to people who use this service.
It's unfortunate all retailers do not choose to pass this fee directly along to consumers who pay via credit card. Instead it is just another cost of doing business that gets buried in the price of their product. This means we all pay higher prices so people can pay via credit card. If you don't like the fee, take it up with your credit card company. It's their fee.
Colin Streng
Greensboro
Comments (3)
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The Financializaton of America is our country's downfall.
Posted on April 3, 2008 3:20 AM
"t's unfortunate all retailers do not choose to pass this fee directly along to consumers who pay via credit card."
It's way more unfortunate that the LTE writer doesn't recognize that he's talking out of both sides of his mouth. He recognizes the propriety in people paying for their own credit-card fees but then complains, concerning the general marketplace, "This means we all pay higher prices so people can pay via credit card," yet he defends taxation and government, which is the master of making everyone pay for everyone else's stuff, including things that a lot of people neither need nor want.
Posted on April 3, 2008 6:47 AM
"The gentleman is right to feel abused, but his anger is misdirected."
Abuse, anger? For what? A credit card company charging a fee? I bet many people don't even realize vendors are charged a fee when they use their plastic.
Like the author, I wish vendors would pass credit card transaction costs directly to the purchaser, so those of us who use cash for a majority of everyday purchases would get a discount.
A pet peeve is someone who buys a $1 cup of coffee in a convenience store and puts it on a credit card. It requires extra time for the card to be processed, receipt signed, etc. That happened the other day, two of the guys cards were declined and finally the third one worked. I've seen some convenience stores with signs that they will not take cards for transactions of less than $5. Good for them.
I remember man saying he wrote a check instead. Good for him!!
Posted on April 3, 2008 8:00 AM