05/28/2008

Associated Press

A Senate committee plans to hold a hearing on several bills to change the way sales taxes are imposed on small businesses.

Gaston Sen. David Hoyle says the Revenue Department has aggressively targeted small businesses that have tried to follow the law. The Charlotte Observer reported the co-chair of the finance committee planned a hearing Wednesday.

Revenue Department officials say they are enforcing the law. They say they are trying to do a better job to make sure taxpayers understand the laws.

Hoyle says one example of the problem is a bakery that sells gourmet bread. La Farm Bakery must charge 7.75 percent tax if it sells the bread at the bakery in Cary. The tax is 2 percent if the bread is sold at a grocery store.

La Farm owner Missy Vatinet was upset when she was hit with a $150,000 back taxes bill in 2005.

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Information from: The Charlotte Observer, http://www.charlotte.com