Tax-free Internet shopping days could be numbered

Shogun

Free: Mudholes Stomped
Jan 8, 2007
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f tax-hungry politicians get their way, the days of ordering items over the Internet and not paying sales tax may become just a fond memory.

Right now, if a California resident orders something from Seattle-based Amazon.com, for instance, he or she won't be charged sales tax at the time of purchase. That's because Amazon doesn't have offices in the state of California.

Pro-tax politicians want to change this by allowing California to force Amazon to collect and submit sales taxes--and they may have found an ally in a U.S. Congress that's controlled by Democrats. (Note: See our related story on new taxes on digital downloads.)

Two bills are pending in Congress that would allow tax collectors to target out-of-state Internet and mail-order retailers, and their supporters are optimistic about their political prospects.

"I certainly would love to see a floor vote," said Neal Osten, federal affairs counsel for the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), a lobby group for state politicians. "We've heard encouraging words from the Democratic leadership in the House."

Meanwhile, pro-tax states are trying their own ways to circumvent a long-standing rule saying a retailer must have physical presence before it can be forced to collect taxes. One effort came from New York state, where legislators recently approved a measure requiring Amazon and other online retailers (that lack a physical presence in the state) to collect sales tax on New Yorkers' purchases.

That amounts to a declaration of war against Amazon, and a legal battle now seems all but inevitable.

This is not exactly a new debate. For years, politicians in state legislatures and the U.S. Congress have been arguing that the rise of e-commerce is causing them to miss out on potentially millions of taxpayer dollars. But now, with a Democratic Congress and a potentially Democratic administration next year, the arguments may gain more political traction.

Technically, of course, Americans in states with sales taxes are supposed to keep track of out-of-state purchases and cough up the necessary sales tax on April 15--the concept is known as a "use tax". But state tax collectors have long complained that in practice, that just doesn't happen, and that money has been unfairly left in taxpayers' pocketbooks.

Verenda Smith, government affairs associate for the Federation of Tax Administrators, framed the decision as a moral one of sorts: "Do you want to be a good American, or do you want to be an American who wants to cheat your government deliberately? It's a harsh way to look at it, but it's true."

Smith said she's also concerned that there's not a level playing field, which is potentially giving online retailers an advantage over their brick-and-mortar counterparts.

It's not exactly clear how much money states are losing to uncollected use taxes. Some politicians have thrown around claims in the past that state and local governments will have lost nearly half a trillion dollars in uncollected sales taxes by 2011.

More generally, total e-commerce sales were estimated at $136.4 billion in 2007, up about 19 percent from the year before, according to the latest U.S. Census statistics. That figure still accounted for only about 3.4 percent of total 2007 retail sales in the United States, however, as opposed to about 2.9 percent in 2006.

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9919420-7.html?tag=newsmap


Im sad to see that this kind of shit will be sported by democrats. I'd like to see names of those who support this instead of a "lobby group for state politicians"
 
tax hungry politicians?

kills me.

hey lets all hate roads, police and firefighters...
 
tax hungry politicians?

kills me.

hey lets all hate roads, police and firefighters...

all of which are currently being paid for without scumfucking politicians looking for something else to tax.


funny, I don't see Hwy 70 falling to pieces because this state can't charge sales tax on ebay purhcases.
 
"hat amounts to a declaration of war against Amazon, and a legal battle now seems all but inevitable."

heaven forbid the local bookstore be on the same footing tax wise.
:redface:
 
How about the IRS take back our $600 economy stimulus check and do the job with our Tax Money they said they were going to in the first place.
 
California, you say. Since you wanted to make this a partisian issue, which party does Arnold Schwarzenegger belong to? Why doesn't he just tell the state not to collect it?
 
you would probably have to ask his wife that question.
 
There are States already that require you pay tax if you buy even from the internet. Personally I believe the proper reading of the Constitution would require if a tax is paid it be paid to the State in which the SELLER resides, not the buyer. If no such State exists then it would be up to the Federal Government to tax the purchase. Per the interstate Commerce Clause.
 
There are States already that require you pay tax if you buy even from the internet. Personally I believe the proper reading of the Constitution would require if a tax is paid it be paid to the State in which the SELLER resides, not the buyer. If no such State exists then it would be up to the Federal Government to tax the purchase. Per the interstate Commerce Clause.

I would think Washington State should be hitting up Amazon for all it's sales, since that's where it has its physical presence. If I drive to Wall Drug (anyone driving on I-90 across S. Dakota can't miss the signs....) near Rapid City and buy something, I pay South Dakota sales tax, not my home state tax. Should be the same for on-line stuff.
 
"don't see Hwy 70 falling to pieces because this state can't charge sales tax on ebay purhcases."

yeah no american bridge ever collapses...

:clap2:
 
ahh yes.. because ENTROPY doesn't occur... thatbridge knew it was high time to start charging taxes on internet purchases.

gotcha.

:thup:
 
yep...people make tax exempt purchases instead of the traditional brick and mortar purchases could be resulting in reduced tax revenue

:rofl:
 
This isn't so much as a tax increase as closing a tax loophole. Why should something be free from tax just because it crosses state lines? Let traditional store outlets compete on an even footing with places like Amazon.

That said...new taxes on online goods will suck. A lot.
 
yea.. and when a black market in internet sales is created we can raise taxes AGAIN to pay for the internet commerce task force.

:rolleyes:
 
And what of the Oregonians? I don't pay sales tax? Oregon has never put one into place and never will... Everytime our elected officials try and put one in, we shoot it down.
 
yea.. and when a black market in internet sales is created we can raise taxes AGAIN to pay for the internet commerce task force.

:rolleyes:

Lets think about this for a second.

Online company. Running from the law. Doesn't pay taxes.

But decides to take your credit card, process it only for the correct amount, and never misuse it? Feel free to try to buy from the tax-free black market. Have fun when your credit card gets jacked. :clap2:

Don't think its really going to be a booming market. :rofl:
 
And what of the Oregonians? I don't pay sales tax? Oregon has never put one into place and never will... Everytime our elected officials try and put one in, we shoot it down.

What about you?

Each state would determine for itself the sales tax. Its taxing YOU, so it should be the state where the purchaser is, not the state where the seller is.
 
Lets think about this for a second.

Online company. Running from the law. Doesn't pay taxes.

But decides to take your credit card, process it only for the correct amount, and never misuse it? Feel free to try to buy from the tax-free black market. Have fun when your credit card gets jacked. :clap2:

Don't think its really going to be a booming market. :rofl:

paypal, check, money order etc..

the funny thing about the internet is that once the cat is out of the bag.. well, have this discussion with Lars Ulrich.


Or, more likely, states like oregon will become to internet sales what the carabean is to tax shelters.
 

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