Don't Back Down

This is getting ridiculous. As you may recall, we recently started our own consulting business. Well, I finally finished filing the federal forms. Only took a couple of weeks to figure out what they're talking about. I still probably screwed something up. Either way, I'll share the details with you shortly so you can (hopefully) learn from my missteps.

So now I'm on to the local scene. I need to file a form with the state, which actually isn't too bad, except I have to go into their office to do it. Why can't these people do things online? Luckily, not a big deal, as I have to go into the same area of town to make two transactions with the city.

It seems the city has their hand out again. This time, a privilege license. It's just a fancy name for "business tax". They take a percentage of your revenue, well, because they can. Do they offer anything in return? No. Am I suddenly going to be showered with business because I have a privilege license? No. I just have to fork over the cash each year. But that's not all.

The zoning department also has their hand out. I have to get a Cusomtary Home Occupant Permit (or something to that effect) that says I can't have any signs in the yard, no employees, yada yada. Essentially, that my house can't look any different from the outside than it did when I wasn't working from home. In a nutshell, I have to keep things the same and pay them for the privilege. What is up with this? You want to enforce people not doing things like that, fine. I'm all for it. But dammit, I'm not doing anything differently, except now my wallet is lighter.

Am I really the only one who sees the problem with this sort of thing?