Yeah, chomping at the bit. ROTF!
How dare the productive citizens of Kalifornistan deny the state the money it needs to pay the extravagant salaries and benefits of state workers.
After all, that's what they send out for refunds.
“We’d like to see the millions — perhaps billions — of dollars in sales and use taxes owed by sometimes unaware California shoppers get collected,..
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What do you mean ‘WE’, you commie jackass.
If all unreported income was taxed and collected, we’d probably balance the budget.
I don’t buy things online.
But IF I did, there’s no way I’d claim it. Ohio has a section where they ask you to declare online purchases, and pay sales tax on those items.
Screw them. They get enough of my money. I’ll keep every penny I can.
I’ve tried to find the percentage of people who file “Use Tax” on their state tax forms - to no avail (looked for MA)
States that have state taxes have the “Use Tax” line on state forms - you are supposed to enter all purchases from out of state or internet to pay the glorious state tax.
No one does it - or very few - businesses do but not personal taxes.
States go after people who bought cigarettes over the net to grab those huge tax funds - now that internet cigarette sales are illegal -”Pact Act”- they are going after everyone - got to fill those coffers.....
ML/NJ
Their idiotic law would be unenforceable except to already burdened california based operations. Way to go loons - tighten that noose that’s choking you off!
When all government workers pay their taxes, when all the rich liberals pay Social Security for their workers, and when all the illegal aliens are taxed for the underground economy, then you can ask me to pay taxes on a book from Amazon.
From a business perspective, I understand the argument. Retailers who have to pay rent in a storefront create a huge number of jobs in this country. If the internet is the model that has all the business, what does it do to jobs? What does it do to commercial property? Those are concerns to ponder.
I’ll play the devils advocate here. In some sense, if you don’t pay the tax, aren’t you really cheating? It’s like downloading music online - chances are you won’t get caught, but that doesn’t change the nature of what you are doing.
From a purely practical point of view however, unless the sales tax is deducted at the point of sale, it’s not likely to be collected.
The justification for sales and use tax is the benefit that retail stores receive from state infrastructure. Internet-based businesses receive no such benefit, and rightly follow the mail-order precedent that local sales taxes are irrelevant.
Go suck the life from some other business.
We'd have all the easy money we need.
Sooooo..... if California, or any state, wants to collect this tax, charge the seller for what is sold in said state. Too problematic, you say? Too bad. I have no sympathy for the tax collector.
Anyway, even if the tax is supposed to be on the one doing the buying (which I disagree with), maybe it should be changed and make the seller responsible. After all, he's the one earning something. I think tax should be on the profit earned.
I think it’s long past time that the newspapers in California paid their fair share of taxes. What’s the matter, don’t you guys want to support the welfare state?
Cough it up!
No illegal immigrant living in California, working for cash, living in government subsidized housing, eating government subsidized food and receiving other government entitlements should be required to pay online sales taxes when spending their hard-earned cash online. Only legal citizens should be required to bear the full brunt of the cost of running that government./sarc
These guys are for real. I have been getting letter after letter stating that my business has been identified as one that has probably run afoul of their tax decree. I thought it was a bunch of BS but a week or so ago I got a letter from the Tax Police on one of my very occasional( one product every 2-3 years) suppliers that had submitted a copy of an invoice from last year of less then $100. The TP demanded that I acknowledge my debt and pay it immediately. I admire their tenacity if that is what they will do to get $8.50 in taxes paid
BTW, what steps have the Tax Police done to collect money from the most blatant tax cheats around? I am talking about drug dealers and prostitutes? I would love to see the EDD cruising the neighborhoods in a big van trying to collect from them babies.
The issue can be easily resolved. Audit every California taxpayer and collect the sales tax for every out of state purchase. They have the authority to do this now, but of course it would result in a complete replacement of currently elected officials at the next election...which would be good.