I bought a small piece of Dry Ice(cardice to the Brits) last week. It was $20.40, plus $1.02 Hazardous Materials Charge, and $1.34 tax.
I was curious about this Hazardous Materials Charge. Looking at their standard 8.5 by 11 form, the entire back side is covered with rules for rented cylinders, rental terms, security interests, rental returns and invoices in very small, very light gray type. Down at the bottom is the following paragraph, which I photoshopped the hell out of so you could read it, as the original is 6.75 by 1 inches and very hard to see;
Basically it says, we impose it and we keep it, to cover any/all insults to our view of the would, by any and all governing bodies.
It's not big enough to attract attention on small purchases, but on larger orders to companies the 5% plus the sales tax on it, might cause some eager beaver accountant to raise a flag. Maybe commercial/industrial accounts aren't nailed with the charge. Probably small businesses would just curse the bottom line creeping up every year. Most people may assume it's a real government charge and it's Obama's fault.
