Jim Harper beat me to the punch on the new Christmas tree tax — probably because I initially thought it was a joke — but there’s actually much more to say here beyond the USDA’s claim that it’s not a tax and the general absurdity of the situation. Three quick things:
First, there are obvious Free Exercise and Equal Protection issues here. That is, unless we consider Christmas trees to be wholly secular, this is an obvious burden on the free exercise of Christianity, and one that no other religion faces. Even if it might be reasonable to see Christmas trees as not particularly religious — pine trees played no role in The Greatest Story Ever Told and, e.g., my secular Jewish family always had a traditional Russian New Year’s Tree (which has no ties to Russian Orthodox Christianity) — but do we want courts drawing lines between, say, creches/crucifixes and trees/Santa?
Second, and probably even more important given the times in which we live, where in the Constitution does the federal government get the power to tax the sale of a local agricultural product? Setting aside trees trucked in from out-of-state, there’s no interstate commerce here to regulate. And if it’s a tax (which, again, Ag officials deny) — presumably an excise, which is specified in the Constitution and which courts have construed to be a tax on transactions or privileges — how does assessing it to promote the general welfare or common defense? The administration cites the Commodity Promotion, Research and Information Act of 1996, under which the tax mandatory fee funds a new program to “enhance the image of Christmas trees and the Christmas tree industry in the United States.” That’s what passes for the general welfare?
Third, even if the tax is a lawful use of federal power, shouldn’t Congress be the body levying it, rather than an agency of the USDA?
I could go on, but this little 15-cent tree tax is a microcosm of what’s wrong with constitutional law, evermore divorced from the Constitution as it is. Yes, under modern doctrine, the Christmas tree tax can be probably justified under either the Commerce Clause or the General Welfare Clause — and Congress can delegate to bureaucrats the power to levy certain “assessments” — but is that the kind of government we signed up for?
h/t Cato legal associate Chaim Gordon
