Not because they need the revenue, mind you.  But simply because they can’t stand the idea of almost any sort of economic transaction taking place without the revenuers getting their pound of flesh.

The Iowa Department of Revenue, often accused of trying to squeeze blood out of turnips, is now searching for pennies in pumpkins.

A new department policy this year has made Halloween jack-o’-lanterns subject to the state sales tax, and many Iowa pumpkin growers are feeling tricked.

Is there room in the patch for both the Great Pumpkin and the tax man on this Halloween night?

“I don’t mind paying taxes, but let’s get real here, people,” said Bob Kautz, owner of the Buffalo Pumpkin Patch in Buffalo, Ia., about eight miles west of Davenport.

Kautz was one of the few Iowa pumpkin sellers willing to talk publicly Tuesday about the new policy, which was published in the revenue department’s September newsletter.

Renee Mulvey, the department’s spokeswoman, said officials decided that pumpkins are used primarily for Halloween decorations, not food, and should be taxed. Previously, they had been considered an edible squash and exempted from the tax.

What a joke.