Sun’s rays now contain dollar signs.
Editor’s Note: Several years after this blog post was published, the Spanish parliament removed its controversial Royal Decree against self-consumption of solar energy.
I understand that times are tough.They keep telling us that the economy is improving, but individuals, businesses, states, counties and even countries are trying to figure out ways to generate more revenue in order to balance their budgets.
But officials in Spain have come up with something that is so outlandish that I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it. They’ve decided to start taxing people who have installed solar panels on their roofs. And what exactly are they taxing? Their usage of the sun. Believe it or not, they are actually taxing people’s use of the sun to generate electricity in their homes.
Obama Administration officials must have kicked themselves for not having thought of this first.
Two international publications have labeled this taxation as “ludicrous” and “stupid.” A Forbes magazine reporter wrote, “You get the feeling that government officials, out of ideas, stared up at the sky one day and thought, ‘I’ve got it! We’ll tax the sun!'”
Teresa Ribera, a senior adviser to the Paris-based Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations, said the law was “illogical in terms of energy efficiency and costs” and “a serious invitation by the government for citizens to become anti-system.”
If I had the ear of the folks who came up with this idea, I’d say, “When did you take over ownership of the sun?” I’d also ask, “From whom did you acquire the sun?” And finally, I’d want to know, “Are you also going to tax everyone who goes to the beach to get a sun tan? Because, while you’re at it, you might as well tax everyone who benefits in any way from the sun, which, of course, would be all of us.”
No, I’d better not give them that idea. I’ve heard of some ridiculous laws in my day, and I’ve seen many politicians behave in incredibly audacious manners. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything quite this far-fetched.
What about you? What’s the most absurd law you’ve ever heard of? I’d love to hear about it.
Your information is OUTDATED.
The tax to which you refer has been repealed. Source: https://cleantechnica.com/2016/03/10/parliament-spain-removes-punitive-sun-tax/
When you vote, think (or thank as, as bud would say) about the people you are voting for or against. And if you don’t vote, don’t bitch. If you do vote common sense and the liberal socialists voters out number the common sense voters….at least you tried. Next time run for the office yourself on a “common sense” platform.
The solar fees were and are brought on by the Energy companies who are angry at their profit loss. they have lost a percentage of their massive profits because solar power is cheaper for the consumer to use. so, to keep solar power from taking their money the public utilites commision ( those who are suppose to protect consumers from big utilites) have been lobbied to protect the big utilites and their investors instead. and new fees and regulations are putting a stranglehold on solar companies. states like Nevada who spearheaded solar power are finding they have large bills now and because of this solar is not being installed in businesses and homes, so the industry is being choked out. States like florida can’t even get solar power in because of the political thugs that the utility companies have on their side. Most solar companies are young and do not have the resources to fight them. and until there is a solar company that is powerfully backed with money and strong lobbyists of their own, this senario will happen all over the Unites States. Energy companies and the public utilites commision do not want solar power.
THATS WHEN YOU OVERTHROW the GOVERNMENT
ENOUGH SAID
NO!!! Not “enough said”. WE all need to say more and do more to get these money grubbing professional politicians out of office. Congress will not impose term limits on themselves. It is up to us to limit their terms…AT THE BALLOT BOX. We the people need to start a movement to end the ridiculous retirement perks that these crooked bustards have given themselves and kick them out of office. But, if you think our gov’t is corrupt now, wait until the lazy liberal (the world owes me a living) crowd puts Hil-Liar-ie Clinton in the oval office. As she has said, “my husband only screwed a couple of dozen women, I will screw the whole country.”
How about taxing your ass every time you go take a shit.
They probably do already. It’s in your water bill. You pay one even if you rent. Dig a well?
The Beatles were visionaries when they wrote this song in the 60’s “Tax Man”
Let me tell you how it will be
There’s one for you, nineteen for me
Cos I’m the taxman, yeah, I’m the taxman
Should five per cent appear too small
Be thankful I don’t take it all
Cos I’m the taxman, yeah I’m the taxman
If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street
If you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat
If you get too cold I’ll tax the heat
If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet
Taxman!
Cos I’m the taxman, yeah I’m the taxman
Don’t ask me what I want it for (Aahh Mr. Wilson)
If you don’t want to pay some more (Aahh Mr. Heath)
Cos I’m the taxman, yeah, I’m the taxman
Now my advice for those who die
Declare the pennies on your eyes
Cos I’m the taxman, yeah, I’m the taxman
And you’re working for no one but me…
How about sun tea. Could get really expensive.
Imposing a stupid tax is one thing…thinking the people are stupid enough to PAY it is quite another.
Remember the phrase: “Taxation without representation.” The Political Class thinks they are royalty. The Constitution and Bill of Rights are being dismembered.
Is it time to throw tea into the ocean again. Where are the Patriots? Where is George Washington. Where are they when we need them?
Dead.
In El Paso, a desert, we get taxed for excess rain times the lack of dirt on our property. Of course it is not a tax but a fee.
The people that are perpetrating this evil,think that they’re going to need the money to buy “air conditioning” when they get to hell, so it can keep them cool..
Papa…
Austin, Texas has thousands of homesites with spectaculor views, and of course those homeowners had to pay many extra dollars to get them. But that’s not enough. The Austin City Council at one time proposed a tax on “views”. It was killed as ridiculous.
City of Austin TX is hatching a plan to add to our sewer service charge for impervious ground cover on our properties. Logic is that rain that falls on impervious ground cover runs into our sewers. Haven’t seen how they will adjust the rate for non or low rain rates, or calculate individual ground cover. Or in my case where ALL the rain water that falls on my lot from sidewalk on back runs into our greenbelt and ultimately into our creek.
They already do this in Bessemer City NC…
They donthis in franklin, TN already
I believe Maryland passed a tax ordinance taxing homeowners for rainfall.
My take is this: GET your solar panels NOW and do NOT sell power back to the grid. By not selling power back to the grid, you’re also NOT allerting the collection thugs that you have solar power. No doubt they may just start taxing solar panels themselves when enough folks do this. That’s why I say get the panels ASAP. Build your OWN wind power stuff from scratch and they can’t trace sales of that equipment.
They have eyes in the sky.
I never thought in my life time I would see so many stupid folks with reported good educations act so stupid. All the way to the top.
I hate to tell you, but one state her in the good ole’ USA already tried that, but the people put up a big stink and they dropped it. THANK GOODNESS! Although this just might start them thinking about it again.
ED- There are people with “gray matter” and there are people with, “heart matter” then there are the people in govt with nothing but “brown matter” that comes from both their top and bottom..
That kind of matter doesn’t need to hit a fan, it comes out naturally…
Papa…
Doug my boy, have’nt you heard of government drones?
Papa…
They are just trying to justify their jobs. Slash the idea and the nut that came up with it. They are 0 help to anyone.
I remember a contract, in the form of a treaty to the Lakota Indians, that states, “as long as the grass is green and the rivers flow, the dear and antelopes roam that the Lakota Indians will keep their scared lands.”
Well the dear and antelopes no longer roam free as they once did, The rivers no longer flow because they are either damned, restricted, or polluted beyond human consumption. And, of course with the drought these past 10 years, the grasses are no longer green. The Lakota Indians no long have in their possession their scared lands.
What comes to mind, for those that discovered this betrayal, what is the Government going to do next, sell water, can fresh air, bottle sunshine in a can? Well, this too has come to pass. Water is sold in bottles, oxygen is sold at restaurants, and all is left to do is to put sunshine in a can. This way the Government can tax the citizens on something that comes free to all by claiming that it is a taxable item. The Government and corporations will do anything for a buck, your buck.
Just today, 12 Nov 2014, California State Government secretly imposed a gasoline tax starting in January of 2015. This secret gas tax will be added to the price per gallon of fuel that a California Consumer purchases at their local gas station. The added tax will increase a gallon of gas by $0.37 on top of what they already pay in taxes, State and Federal. What is more audacious is that the legislators decided to increase this tax over the next several years. We only heard about this after the November elections.
I invite all Californians to write, call, text, or Tweet, even yell at your local representatives and have them repeal this law ASAP. Otherwise, when the fuel prices go back up to $.00/ gal plus, Californians will be hit with the double whammies. All because the state of California is out of money. It needs to find money to run the State Government. They ran out of sources to steal their funds from; so they decided to steal it directly from your pocket knowing that there is nothing you can do for a few years. Don’t be a sap, do something for your self and others – PROTEST THIS SECRET GASOLINE TAX!
Cliff, you live in Cali right? I was born in Long Beach, CA and raised in Whittier, CA. We moved to AZ in 2005 and are trying to move back to Northern CA around Shasta.
It sounds like CA is getting worse because it is bankrupt, all the taxes and illegal immigrant issues. Is there anything worth moving back there for? We were moving to a more remote lifestyle hoping to escape the scrutiny of a constant overbearing govt., but it sounds like that can’t be done there any more.
I have been following your blogs and they seem to be full of thought and wisdom. Could you give me some “reality checks” about living in Northern Cali? We do not want to make this move to find ourselves trapped and taxed to death. And we would NOT move back to Southern Cali because it is a zoo there…changed radically. Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
m: I’ts allready too late for california, less ofcourse you get rid of all the libs and dems there…
Papa…
An animal that runs free is a DEER, not dear. Please learn to spell, or use spell check.
Rivers that no longer flow are dammed, not damned. Unless, of course, that river is the Styx. Them, I guess it would b damned. I’m just sayin’.
Correction….Then, I guess it would be damned. Sorry, my keyboard misses keystrokes.
The next tax will be based on how many miles you drive your car. Some states have already broached the idea, but none have passed it…yet.
Well, here’s 2things I hear they’re working on. The first is a little mask for your face that requires a Quarter to be inserted every 30 minutes in order to keep the valve open that allows you to breathe. After 30 minutes, no Quarter, the valve snaps shut and you’re DEAD. I can just see the masses of people running around like chickens with their heads chopped off looking for Quarters. I bet you could make money selling them for a Dollar to someone that REALLY needs one. START HOARDING them NOW, before it becomes fashionable. The other thing is TOP SECRET so DON’T spread it around. I understand from a reliable source, (the one that told me about number one above), that they are building a Big Black Opaque Plastic Sheet out in space precisely the right distance from the Sun. They are putting little PIN HOLES in it that are Scientifically calculated to just cover the size of your house with sunlight. Then they will implement SunBilling and if you DON’T pay your bill they’ll stick a PIN in your HOLE and shut off your sunlight WITHOUT affecting your neighbors’. It’s DIABOLICAL! WHAT will they think of NEXT? Oh, and this one is REALLY coming. They are going to put a water Meter on everyones’ house that gets their water from a well. Then they’ll bill you for THAT too.
What’s next? Will they tax the air we breathe?
If you want clean air, they will.
What the hell have you been smoking?
What the next thing their going to tax. put a meter on your bed and charge you every time you do it or a pole tax on males depending on the size and if it not long enough they hit you with a nuisance tax .
You forgot the Luxury tax for those that break the mold and the Elitists tax that can just pay for it regardless of size.
At close to the source of all these government needs for revenue is the global fact that the loss of manufacturing has put Spain, USA and the rest of the West “out of business”. I watched the local and federal governments impose regulation after regulation on factories, while imposing “0” duty on Chinese goods. Economists have shown that for every factory job there are 7 more related to it. There are strong “Green voters” who pushed for all of these regulations. The regulations were well-intended and if the governments would have born some of this cost it would have been cheaper than welfare for all.
I lived and worked in USA,Italy, China and Taiwan. The Chinese government compensates its factories for exporting at a loss to the West!
Oh our for fathers wanted some taxes. BUT IF ANY OF THEM EVER KNEW HOW ALL OUR USofA, government fools were allowed toworkfor us (the people )to trying to text rainwater sun or anything else mother they tried to offer I think it be shooting each other in front of the White House… Or at least damn idiot that proposed it!!!!!!!!! If they only knew they’d all be spinning in the graves like engines wrong running on higH Octane. PLEASE WAKE UP ALL YOU TAX DREAMERS. ((Nightmares ))Is really more like it ..we all pay our dues to the especially their home owners. And anyone who purchases anything already paid the taxes so back down to earth. And get off of Mother Nature’s back .before she feels like cornered animal and BITES BACK ON, the idiot government officials to come up with these freaking stupid & wrong laws!!!!
The state of confusion, er, I mean Maryland, taxes rain now. They use Google Earth to see how much paved space is on your property and commercial business receives a tax bill on what water is diverted and not allowed to soak into Maryland soil.
Seattle claims the rain water “belongs” to them, and if you store or catch it in any way, they will fine or even arrest you.
They compensate using our money.
American manufacturing has been taxed out of existence. Liberals tax American corporations thinking that We The People are too stupid to realize that corporations pass along all costs of producing goods and services to the CONSUMMER, corporations do not pay taxes, they collect them for the government. American corporations, not Chinese corporations. Our liberal gov’t is doing it’s best to run all American corporations out of America and sending those jobs to China. Repeal the corporate income tax and watch the American economy flourish. The net result will be more Americans working and paying taxes instead of living on gov’t handouts.
Well for your information people I just put up a 10kw wind turbine last year that the fed. gov. gave me a 33% tax credit for. On the other hand my Michigan gov. wanted to have my township local gov. tax it like a business even though it isn’t a permanent fixture,except for the foundation. All the while our state gov.claims to support renewable energy. If it hadn’t been excepted for a year I would’ve paid more in taxes on it than I gained in credit. There was also some state rep. who purposed to tax our well water also. Don’t know what happened to him or it though? Where do we get these people? FOR THE PEOPLE MY ASS!
Taxes. Taxes. Taxes
Israel should tax every rocket launched against them. The more rockets the more tax revenue
Or how about taxing PRAYERS?
Is a moon tax next?
Its an overhead.
They took GOD and threw him under the bus a long time ago, because he would’nt pay their taxes..
Christians you better look out, they’re comming after us next..
Papa…
The church recommends 10% for God. The Federal government wants 25-50%, state governments want 0-13.3% (California comes in as the highest with Hawaii 2nd at 11%) so some states believe they’re greater than God (along with the Feds).
Where does one draw the line at economic slavery? For you savers, over the last 100 years a dollar today buys 5 cents worth back in 1915. In 1964, the last year of a silver certificate paper dollar, one ounce of silver was worth $1.293 and today it’s worth $16.70, 15.5 times more. This is down considerably from $40 an ounce during the summer of 2011. Base price for a 1964 Corvette coupe was about $4,300 back then. If you kept those silver bullion coins, you can buy a base model 2015 Corvette coupe for $54,000 MSRP and have $12,650 to spare.
You either vote them into office or don’t vote for the commons sense opponent or don’t become the common sense opponent.
Frank, I never knew my jaw could drop the the floor, but it just did. This is the most asinine thing I have ever heard. Have you heard what laws like this affect Indian reservations?? I have heard they are recognized as autonomous , independent nations with no federal jurisdiction by Congress and US law. If that is the case, then I am going out and finding a cherokee woman to marry, move to a reservation, and put on my roof,…wait for it, solar panels in the shape of an extended middle-finger
You may think that reservations are autonymous and a “no government” zone, but that doesn’t work out well when Uncle Sam wants something. In Arizona, the APS (Arizona Power System) is attempting a similar move as Spain by taxing the Navajo for solar generation. Their excuse is that the government set up the original transmission lines and infrastructure, therefore they have to recover any lost revenue from their coal-fire power plants.
Our enclosed and insulated TTI growing towers use natural gas to avoid winter freezing but the CO2 is converted by plants into sugars to feed plants and the oxygen is allowed to escape to pollute the atmosphere. We expect all levels of government to be encouraged to tax this oxygen pollution or just a law to outlaw it.
If you want to drop CO2 levels, get Congress to stop flapping its gums.
Cliff: I never heard of congress exhaling co2, I allways thought they exhaled methane gas frpm both their ends!
Papa….
So here’s the deal – let them tax you during the 12-14 hours of daylight – then send them a bill for the 10-12 nighttime hours of NO sun and your energy needs! Of course you have the right to bill them more than they charge you because your time and energy is worth something and only you decide your worth for labor hours. Fair is fair since they think they can control access to the sun.
Well let me inlighten you to another “idiot” govenrment official who we have here in the state of Colorado. This balloon head wanted to implement a “wind-tax” on people. You are right in your assesment that politicians are grasping at straws to make ends meet budget wise. Few people here in Colorado even know that we have a law that says its against the law to collect rain water. Here is my philosophy on this matter. When you can get the sun to stop hitting my house and the rain to stop hitting my house I will stop trying to collect it for my personal use. And as for the wind well thats not the only thing that can “blow me.” If I buy the materials to build a solar panel or a wind turbine those items have already been taxed and that is all the revenue you will ever get from me. My next question is who will pay for all of the city solar powered warning signs that have now been implemented in our state. Will the government actually tax itself or will they pass that along to us like everything else they waste money on.
Frank you keep mentioning Obama whenever you get the chance to show how he is tax crazy but this one squarely falls on the conservative Koch’s. Let’s be honest enough and pull our heads out of the sand.
To borrow from the EDF Environmental Defense Fund:
‘In their latest assault, these supposed scions of get-government-off-my-back libertarianism are funding state efforts to force environmentally-concerned Americans who have installed solar panels and small wind turbines on their property to pay—of all things—a surtax on electricity sold back to the grid. ‘
Oh, the irony. As The New York Times pointed in an editorial over the weekend:
“At long last, the Koch brothers and their conservative allies in state government have found a new tax they can support. Naturally it’s a tax on something the country needs: solar energy panels.”
Lawmakers in Oklahoma have recently passed a solar surtax bill, and the Kochs and their Big Carbon allies are launching similar attacks on clean energy policies in other states.
Yavapai County in Arizona has a $1000.00 “Impact Fee” for installing solar on your home. I’ve not researched other Counties in the state, but wouldn’t be surprised if there are others doing the same thing. Also, any rain water collected must be filtered before it can be used to irrigate your garden. This also requires a permit and inspections to verify. Then your property tax assessment goes up to reflect the cost of installation. With the majority of the land available in Arizona being remote without electricity within miles, solar and water collection is a very common occurrence. Therefore, people are left with no alternative but to pay the fees. Most people will just ignore the ordinances and do what they have to do until caught, and then deal with it. We no longer own our land. We just have the right to live there as long as we do what they tell us to do. Then they send in the goons to enforce their will. More and more we need to stand up with each other as was done in Nevada recently. Just sayin’………
It’s not just Yavapai (I’m in Sedona), but is being pushed by APS and Gov. Brewer herself for the entire state. Their claim is that they are now losing money on their infrastructure that has to be recovered. Since Sen. McCain has a ranch out in Cottonwood, you might contact him to see if this can’t be short-stopped at the federal level.
Its being done in Kern County, California too. But we are fighting them every step of the way. Its not pretty, but, we are making headway.
When we lived in England after my return from south east Asia, they Taxed us according to what type of television we owned. color was one rate, black and white was another. Then there was Road Tax where you paid according to the sises and weights of your autos, and then the closet tax, people refused to put closets in their houses and in stead bought amours so they would not be taxed on each individual closet in their home… It never ceased to amaze me of the number of things the socialists can find to tax people on… I am so glad to be home in Texas…
They can get my tax AFTER they remove all the brass AND bodies who entered my property WITHOUT (MY) permission in an attempt to collect it. That is if any of the dumb suckers haven’t met GOD yet!
Careful that they don’t tax you on your brass.
01/01/16: Lead Disposal fee
Colorado has a law that makes it illegal to catch rain water. Rain, sun, air. Obviously people are using too much of Mother Nature’s (God’s) resources. So lets nuke each other into oblivion and give the planet back to the animals.
They have already raised the fees for people with solar panels on their roofs in Utah. In this years legislature. Just a couple of dollars. They claim increased cost if they are hooked up to the grid.
This sounds stupid enough to have come from 0v0mit’s think tank! Wait until he hears about this!
All water (Rain, River, Lake, Stream, Run Off, Snow & Snow Melt, Ice & Ice Storm Meltage, Creeks__All Of IT) is public property in Oregon. And yes you have to have to pay for a permit to collect and-or use it. Right up there with taxing the SUN!
Wyoming already talked about putting a tax on the wind . I thank they ran into problems.
What? They couldn’t tell their asses from a hole in the ground? I guess the 8×10 glossy photographs didn’t help any.
You really “thank” they did.
Think you for your comment.
In Washington state, a law maker decided that they needed to tax the water that came out of peoples private wells. He was recalled.
The feds already tax the air. The carbon tax. The peoples democratic republic of Connecticut taxes the air we exhale. It’s called emissions testing. ….PS- Connecticut is open for business. Okaaaaaaay
Before I bought my solar panels I figured it would be just a matter of time until we have to buy a permit to manufacture electricity
I shouldn’t give them this idea, but I am expecting a “tax on the air” that we breathe! It could be done, something like this: In April of each year, we would have to fill out a new IRS form to report “How many Cubic Inches of Oxygen Our Lungs Would Hold — As Determined by our Primary Care Physician.” Then, we would have to calculate how many cubic inches of air we had consumed for the past year. The tax would start out small, e.g., $1.50 per cu. in. per year.
You can bet the under 35 crowd would just say…OK!
. . . and the over 60 crowd would say, “so what, bill me!”
Your idea is actually right out of a Sci Fi story called “Old Doc Methusalah” by Ron Hubbard. Life imitating art!
What do you think the CARBON TAX is?… breathing is a contributor to your carbon footprint.
A solar power tax, wow. Incredable, I don’t think that I can top this one… Except a tax on your lawn for having to use the sun to convert carbon to oxygon. They will no doubt figure that one out for themselves.
Here is a better idea. Since they can only tax you during day light hours, lets tax them for the air they breathe.
That’s next!