ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 27, 1996 TAG: 9608270090
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: What's on your mind?
SOURCE: RAY REED
Q: Is Dr. Jack Kevorkian making money off these so-called suicides? Who is paying his legal bills?
K.P., Troutville
A: Kevorkian doesn't charge for his services, and his lawyer apparently isn't charging the doctor, either.
That's how the situation appears to reporters covering Kevorkian locally in Pontiac, Mich.
Kevorkian lives a Spartan existence, with golf his only apparent indulgence. He wears clip-on ties and drives a used car, according to Steve Huber, a reporter with the Oakland Press in Pontiac.
His income consists of Social Security, possibly a pension from a hospital where he worked, and whatever royalties come from a book he wrote in 1991, "Prescription: Medicide."
Kevorkian's attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, gets lots of publicity. Fieger also seems to take the right-to-die issue personally.
When a Michigan religious leader called for opposition to Kevorkian's doctor-assisted suicides, Fieger said, "He can't [make his views into law] because there are people like me and Dr. Kevorkian who will stand up to him."
Video sales tax
Q: What is the law regarding a sales tax being charged on movie rentals? It doesn't seem right to pay a tax when you're going to take it back to the store.
B.T., Vinton
A: The law officially calls it a sales tax, but this 4.5 percent dip into our pockets is more than that.
Nearly any item that can be leased is subject to the sales tax. That includes movies, tools, equipment, furniture - you name it.
To see a movie without paying the sales tax, you have to watch it in a theater or on TV. The law specifically excludes movies from the sales tax in those mediums.
The really annoying part of the tax on video rentals is that sales tax is added onto a late-return fee. The fee is part of the proceeds from the rental, the tax folk explained.
The sales tax got its name in 1966 when it applied mostly to sales. Lots of items were excluded back then: dry-cleaning and all kinds of services weren't taxed.
The law got major updates in 1979 and 1985, though, and rental items and lots of other things fell under its reach.
Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Call us at 981-3118. Or, e-mail RayR@Roanoke.Infi.Net. Maybe we can find the answer.
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