Purely Vermont products should be exempt from Vermont sales taxes. Purely Vermont products are those items manufactured or produced in Vermont by indigenous Vermont workers working full time in Vermont for enterprises that are 100% owned by persons living full time in Vermont.
Workers foreign to the region of Vermont are to be excluded. The term indigenous Vermont workers means those residing full time in Vermont or a neighboring state or province and possessing permanent, not temporary, right to work in this Country.
Out-of-state ownership is to be excluded. The exemption would need to be renewed annually. Sales, leases or other transfers of the exemption would be allowed between otherwise qualifying organizations.
Such an exemption would help Vermonters compete with the low wages of foreign countries and stimulate homegrown businesses as a part of the Vermont community.
Producers of purely Vermont products could apply for the exemption and if the claim is substantiated, labeling, bar codes, or other means of identification could designate the products.
Dishonestly claiming a product to be purely Vermont or falsely selling an item as such should result in the loss of the privilege to do business in Vermont.
Perry Cooper