Pumpkins aren't food?

by Sandy Maple (Subscribe to Sandy Maple's posts) Oct 31st 2007 5:01PM

Have you ever purchased a pumpkin for any purpose other than as a Halloween decoration? Although I sometimes save the seeds from a pumpkin to roast or plant, that has never been my main goal when bringing home a pumpkin. The powers-that-be in Iowa are on to this and have decided that because pumpkins are more likely to be used as a decoration than as a food, they are subject to a 5% sales tax.

"We made the change because we wanted the sales tax law to match what we thought the predominant use was," Renee Mulvey, a spokeswoman for the state tax office, says. "We thought the predominant use was for decorations or jack-o'-lanterns." The state expects to add about $70,000 in tax revenue from this little Halloween trick.

And for those of you who really are buying that pumpkin to eat, the state will accommodate you. Under penalty of perjury, buyers can fill out a "sales exemption certificate" and swear that they intend to eat the pumpkin.

Source

Comments (8)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Melissa 10-31-2007 @ 8:04PM

Pumpkins are yummy. Bake them in the oven with a little cinnamon, brown sugar, or apple pie spice. Throw them in a crockpot with some white wine over them. Roast in one of those roasting bags with a pork loin. Delicious. And if you own a pumpkin carving kit, not a pain to cook, either.

Uly 10-31-2007 @ 9:51PM

The pumpkins you buy for eating really shouldn't be the same you buy for jack-o-lanterns - some varieties are better for one purpose or another.

Tamyu 11-01-2007 @ 12:44AM

I agree with Uly.

We eat pumpkin all the time - but it`s not the big, thin walled, flavorless halloween variety. Those are bred for size and ease of carving. There isn`t a whole lot to eat on them, in my experience.
The kind that are good for cooking are the smaller, fewer seed and more meaty ones. In other words, the type that are a pain to carve.
They really are very different. The ones out there for halloween really aren`t a food.

Heather 11-01-2007 @ 10:23AM

I guess they haven't heard of pumpkin pie? Are all pumpkins taxed or just the big ones? Like the others said thier are different kinds for different things.

Meg 11-01-2007 @ 5:31PM

Just FYI, this tax was overturned yesterday and anybody who paid it is now entitled to a refund.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/337644_pumpkin01.html

Meg 11-01-2007 @ 5:32PM

Just FYI, this tax was overturned yesterday and anybody who paid it is now entitled to a refund.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/337644_pumpkin01.html

dee 11-02-2007 @ 12:35PM

It would be fairly easy to distinguish between the pumpkins generally sold for food use and for decoration use: even our grocery store does it. I'm sure that some people buy the sugar pumpkins for decoration (hell, the sugar pumpkins at our grocery were 50 cents each last week) but in my experience they aren't really great for decoration. They've probably been sitting in the mud somewhere before harvest, and their less-tough (than carving pumpkin) skin can look pretty nasty after that. Doesn't matter for cooking purposes.

andiepauly 11-03-2007 @ 3:11AM

Renee Mulvey disgusts me, as if Americans aren't payin enough tax.. Go away Commie!

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