Pa.'s 18% hidden tax was supposed to be temporary ... In 1936
https://www.ydr.com/story/news/2017/04/12/pas-18-hidden-tax-supposed-temporary-1936/100343742/If you've ever paid the "Johnstown Flood Tax," you probably don't know it.
The "temporary" tax was enacted in 1936 to help victims of the Johnstown flood. In the years immediately following prohibition, it was a 10 percent tax on liquor designed to help a community rebuild, according to a report published by the Pennsylvania Treasury.
Today, that tax is still around, now usually called the "state liquor tax." It's now 18 percent and charged on liquor sold in state-run stores, the only way to buy liquor in Pennsylvania....