True Cost Economics is currently creating a sizable ruckus in the academic world, and its value as a system of thought is starting to be recognized by the economic establishment. -- Brendan Themes Go there >>True Cost Economics
Combined with the fact that sales tax is tied to consumption rather than income, this leads some to the conclusion that low-income individuals and families pay a greater proportion of their incomes in sales taxes, therefore sales tax is regressive. You're supposed to read regressive as unfair.
In practice, there's little difference. A sales tax is a tax on the actual transaction -- the buyer giving the seller money for ownership of the vehicle. The titling tax is a tax on a service provided by the state -- issuing a new title in the buyer's name. As of 2011, the Maryland titling tax rate was 6 percent. That's the same rate as the state's general sales tax. The actual amount subject to the titling tax differs depending on whether a buyer has purchased a car from a dealer or from a private seller.