EXCLUSIVE
Across America, there’s only a handful of states that don’t pump their residents for another few percent whenever they buy something.
Still, even if you are from one those places without a sales tax, you ought to be prepared to be fleeced whenever you are away from home.
However, one visiting resident, who may have been from Montana, just wasn’t ready for the sticker shock of New Jersey’s 6.625% sales tax.
On Tuesday morning at the upmarket Kings Supermarket on Valley Road in Montclair, NJ, the shopper was horrified on reaching the cash register to learn that the levy would be applied to his large haul of luxury groceries.
The man, who would only tell Crazy America that his name was “Joe”, immediately dropped the items he had been packing up into brown paper bags, and exclaimed loudly: “I ain’t paying no goddamn tax to New Jersey”. He then rushed out of the store cursing under his breath.
Crazy America caught up briefly with Joe in the parking lot after the incident. He was a man who appeared to be in his mid-fifties, sporting longish hair and a full, gray beard. As he stepped into a battered looking brown Ford station wagon, we noticed the Montana license plates – an unusual sight in Northern New Jersey.
We asked him what had happened and he said only: “I ain’t paying these crazy taxes they take here,” before shutting his doors and speeding off.
Montana is of course one of only five US states that do NOT charge sales tax, the others being Alaska, Delaware, New Hampshire, and Oregon.
Go Figure.
Meanwhile, back in the usually salubrious environs of Montclair Kings, the abrupt departure left store clerks stunned at the petulant and bizarre display.
“What an a** hole!” said one employee who did not wish to give their name to Crazy America. “You’d think you’d figure a thing like that out before you come out shopping.”
 | MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY |
|---|---|
| Location: | 12 miles west of New York City |
| Population: | 39,227 |
| Median Household Income: | $74,894 |
| Quirky Fact: | Despite its reputation as a haven for the liberal chattering classes, Montclair has a more gritty side. It was the setting for some of the stories in the hit HBO gangster series, The Sopranos. Many Montclair streets, locations and businesses were featured in the show, such as Bloomfield Avenue |
the question is what was this guy from Montana doing in a place like Montclair!!