Titles and Taxes

There is a new NYS tax on Title companies. These companies now have to pay a tax (about 10%) on searches that are the basis of their business. The law further specifies that this additional tax cannot be passed on to the customer.
This is a clear example of the stupidity of our current legislators.
First, any business functions on obtaining raw materials, does something with and resells the new product. Our legislative wizards have determined that even though a company’s cost of raw materials has increased, the companies prices must remain the same. Brilliant! If this were applied universally, there would be no businesses. The economic stupidity involved is beyond comprehension.
Of course, since these companies are legally prohibited for adding this cost to their bill, the cost will just be buried somewhere else and the customer will pay anyway. Such business acumen would apparently be a surprise to our legislative wizards. But to prevent business from trying to survive, hordes of new state employees will be needed to avoid the potential calamity of a business trying to stay profitable.
It is difficult to determine how things such as this will help improve the business climate, home sales or the state budget situation.