Posted on 01/13/2009 8:21:46 AM PST by DFG
This is an issue that begs for a federal solution. Internet sales are overwhelmingly INTERSTATE COMMERCE, which the Constitution clearly spells out as subject to federal regulation. Apply a single, federally determined tax rate to all interstate transactions conducted over the internet, and split the revenue between the buyer’s and seller’s states. Eventually this could become part of a larger system to replace the federal income tax with a federal sales tax. It would also give states with very high sales tax rates incentive to lower those rates, as there would be political pressure from in-state sellers to lower the tax so as to stop incentivizing state residents to buy over the internet instead of buying locally.
I work for an online retailer, and we collect sales tax when we sell/deliver to someone in our state. But that’s even a nightmare because in our state, there are 60 something counties and not all counties have the same sales tax rate.
I can’t imagine the amount of hassle it would be to do this on a national scale.
Who would the money be sent to? How would the money be distributed if it was sent to a federal agency?””
You would have to file a tax return in every state, and I think New York city has their own tax.
The politicos think that if there are computers that can send a Rover to Mars, there are computers and software that will allow each and every business to collect a myriad of taxes, and somehow then you would have to know which county the buyer is in.
That would include towns that straddle county lines!!!!
Politicos don’t care what kind of nightmares they create for any business- large or small—they just want to find as many ways as possible to tax you.
We have more “takers/recievers than we have providers. The “takers” have voted persons of their image into office, and those persons are always pushing legislation that moves more and more to the “takers” side of the equation. 40+++ years of Welfare has given us a home-grown class of people who think they should NEVER work “for the man”, and they know how to have their hand out and scam in every possible program out there.
The “Providers” have some options... and those options are well covered in “Atlas Shrugged”.
That is at the core of trying to fix this economic mess.
YES
If the state really wanted to protect it’s businesses, it would lower or get rid of sales taxes altogether instead of forcing business to be their tax collectors.
This is about finding and milking additional revenue streams to continue their excessive spending and pork strewing behavior.
It is never in the best interest of the citizenry for the state to suck up every penny and shakedown businesses for every half baked spending idea they come up with. The state creates no wealth, it only consumes it.
One thing business does not need is attempts by legislators to protect us or help us be competitive. What they need to do is gtf out of the way and stop milking us.
(I own a B&M and sell online, if you aren’t doing both you’re going to be extinct. Even locals shop online and then drop in to pick up their stuff. If they’re elderly they often prefer to have it shipped for convenience).
Taxation without representation is tyranny.
Taxation with representation is no fun either.
Or we could end up with both a federal income tax AND a federal sales tax, on top of existing state sales tax.
The states are very clear in their use tax laws. There is no tax on a product unless it comes to rest in that state. For example, you buy a widget from CA to have shipped to you in NY. None of the states your widget traveled through has any right to tax your widget (they may tax the mode of travel). When your widget reaches you and "comes to rest" in NY State, NY can collect "use tax" on that product (because sales tax wouldn't apply as the sale didn't take place there).
The Commerce Clause does not prevent this, it prevents the originating and pass-through states from collecting sales/use taxes on something.
Plenty of people go to their local store, check out the physical merchandise, then go online and order it.
The state is protecting their local workers and businessmen from unfair competitive advantage.”
Let’s see-——
With your theory, the customer is looking at the actual item in a brick and mortor store, and then going to the internet and paying for shipping, just to avoid the sales taxes. That doesn’t add up, IMO.
If the price is the same, and it is not a big ticket item like a car, then I will leave the store with the item, as I have spent time and gas to go to the store to browse, and the sales tax will not be a deterrant for me.
What is the part you fail to mention is that the local stores have a higher overhead, and compound that with a snotty, under-experienced sales force, who are fairly useless. Therefore, I might buy something on the internet which will make it worthwhile to pay the shipping and wait a few days IF I am saving a substantial amount of money.
More and more, shopping in the brick and mortor stores is a case of trying to get communication with the sales force. No experience—no idea of personal grooming—arrogant comments when the topic is anything computer/HD TV. They are supposed to be there to serve me and answer my questions, and all too often I get condescension.
I have left more than one store with a basket full of stuff because a clerk couldn’t care less to answer my questions or because I didn’t like the face full of metal and screws and pins.
Thousands of brick and mortar stores are ALSO selling on-line.......and unless they have a "brick and mortar" store in the state of that "on-line purchase"...they aren't collecting taxes on that sale.
There is some effort being made to require payment to possibly BOTH states. And that has never been law.”
That would be taxation without representation, and would fail a court test.
It’s no more of an advantage than mail order has always been, mail order only charged tax if they had a physical presence in the state of the purchaser. Places like Sears that was everywhere, most other places it was 1 or 2 states. Brick and mortar offer instant gratification and in person assistance for possibly, though not necessarily, a slightly higher price. Plus they can always go online too. It’s a pretty level playing field.
That doesn't stop the "Fair Tax" people from pushing that federal sales tax down everybody's throat. It not likely to every pass. The politicians are addicted to screwing us with the income tax. You can bet they are looking for anything to raise taxes. They can never make do with less.
“First, they lower my credit card limits and increase my rates due to “challenging economic conditions.””
No, they did that because you’re a lousy credit risk.
As I said before, I work for an online retailer. However, we weren't always online retailers. We were a brick and mortar company (and still are in our home location)...but 10 years ago, when noticing that online was where the future was, the company evolved to a 90% online business.
Any brick and mortar can also have an internet presence and sell competively on the internet. All it takes is a website, paying for google adwords instead of newspaper ads, and signing up and using the many collection tools that are now available to online reatilers. UPS will set you up with shipping.
I don't buy the "online is unfar to brick and mortar" argument, one bit, because anybody can be an online retailer.
Not when all the issuers are doing blanket rate increases on all of their customers.
then how about lowering the tax rate on the sale of in state items.... It protects no one, it only hurts the in state businesses, cause they can't get their vig from the till.
Ever wonder why Hong Kong, an area with minimal natural resources, limited infrastructure and small populace is the number 1 economy in the world? It's not because they charge a sales tax..... to protect it's businessmen.
“Not when all the issuers are doing blanket rate increases on all of their customers.”
That’s a flat out lie!
My Mastercard rate is the same (I really could care less if it was 200%/month) and my $30k limit hasn’t been changed a bit in fact they keep asking if I would like to increase the max.
I lived in Matinsburg WVa. for a couple of years around 1985; there were two malls in which to shop, one in Maryland and one in Virginia along the Interstate.
The three states had a working agreement to request the driver’s license from each customer to determine which tax rate to apply as sales tax.
The taxes were then forwarded to the state of residence by the vendors.
for e-products that have no brick-n-mortar retail front... why bother basing in the US?
there are plenty of nations with taxes around 10-15%... what keeps a software company from moving its operations to that country?
law makers better understand this or most, if not all, IT companies will push their businesses offshore.
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