Utah State Tax Commission Motor Vehicle Division -- DEFENDERS OF PUBLIC MORALITY

I've gone through a bit of an apathetic spell in regards to my blog. I've said all that can be said, and more, about vouchers and haven't really had anything else that I've cared to write about. I'm trying to come back.

This story was a bit over the top. The Utah State Tax Commission has taken up a fight against a merlot Mercedes owner on account of his personalized license plate "MERLOT". The state's arguement in this matter, "merlot is an alcoholic beverage, and the state refuses to have alcohol promoted on its licenses." Nevermind the fact that the car's color is in fact called merlot, the state somehow finds that any reference to a (fairly mild as I understand) alcoholic beverage harmful to the general public. Initially I thought this was just a complete bizzare occurance, "the guy must have pissed off someone during a tax audit, or something".

However, this morning the subject came up during an appointment with one of my tax clients and this client actually had a similar experience with the Utah State Tax Commission. In another state they had a friend with the license "WHO TOOTED" on the family car (in reference to tdigestive function) when they moved here the attempted to get the same tags and were denied. The reason they were denied is (according to the DMV worker) there is a list of words and phrases that cannot be used in connection with personalized tags "tooted" apparently (according to the State of Utah) is a slang term for snorting cocaine. I'm curious if anyone has tried to get the phrase "ASSMAN". This is absurd. I was pretty opposed to Mayor Andersen's rhetoric about Utah being a Taliban-esque theocracy, however when it comes to the Utah State Tax Commission Motor Vehicle Division I have to concede the point to the Mayor.

PS I recommended the client try again, and when denied I have gldly offered to fight the case. Anyone else have this experience?