Posted on 04/25/2013 5:55:21 AM PDT by sickoflibs
WASHINGTON (AP) — You don't see this very often: a majority of Senate Republicans voting to make people who buy stuff on the Internet pay state and local sales taxes.
The Senate could vote as early as Thursday on a bill to empower states to require online retailers to collect state and local sales taxes for purchases made over the Internet. Under the bill, the sales taxes would be sent to the states where a shopper lives.
On Wednesday, the bill passed a test vote in the Senate, 74 to 23, with 27 Republicans voting in favor. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., vowed to pass the bill this week, before senators leave for a scheduled vacation.
"This is a matter of equity and fairness," said South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a Republican. "The same people who are selling the same products should be paying the same taxes."
Under current law, states can only require stores to collect sales taxes if the store has a physical presence in the state. As a result, many online sales are essentially tax-free, giving Internet retailers an advantage over brick-and-mortar stores.
It is part of GOP orthodoxy to oppose higher taxes, a central issue that divides Democrats and Republicans. That's why the bill faces an uncertain fate in the House, where some Republicans regard it as a tax increase.
But supporters of the bill insist it is not a tax increase. Instead, they say, the bill merely provides states with a mechanism to enforce current taxes.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
OK, that’s a one-time tax called a “use tax” which is just a way of them collecting sales tax on something not purchased in their state. A more accurate description of that tax would be “excise tax.”
The use taxes I’m referring to are paid *every year* that the property is used in business.
I understand. I paid use taxes (as a business) when I’d use merchandise rather than sell it. I also pay use taxes (as a consumer) when I buy something out of state and bring it into the state for my use. Commercial or non-commercial use doesn’t matter. The exception is for businesses that buy products out of state for resale in state. In that case, use taxes don’t apply, because the state collects sales tax on those transactions.
The tax party indeed.
NO, businesses do not support this bill and they are NOT losing sales to the internet.
Absolutely nothing stops any brick and mortar store from selling on the internet. I do.
Pretending this is about fairness is crap. Business owners too stupid or lazy to figure out how to sell on the internet are now whining that somebody stole their cheese. It’s BS, what they are really demanding is protection from competition.
The worst part of this bill is that it makes many small businesses liable for sales tax collection in states that they have no physical presence in (unlike the big box stores who all have their own websites). This is about big business using the power of government to hamper smaller competitors.
Messing with the concept of nexus based on physical presence to establish legal jurisdiction enshrines taxation without representation and further erodes our freedom.
It’s a bad law that is stupidly written and creates a complex system while ignoring the simple fix that requires no federal legislation whatsoever.
States have always had the power to enact origin based sales tax and have their businesses charge sales tax on ALL sales whether physical or virtual, basically making internet shoppers virtual tourists who must pay the sales tax on purchases made in the state they are visiting.
It’s that simple. but politicians prefer a complicated system that asserts vastly more control while eroding a basic legal concept of jurisdiction based on physical presence.
So stop spreading the lie that it’s about fairness or that business wants this. Some do, but not for honest reasons.
First of all, it *automatically files* sales taxes for 24 states.
It can tell you the sales tax rates for *all* states and localities. The ability to automatically file sales taxes might (and probably) depends on the online infrastructure of various states.
Now, as to the totality of their coverage: first, there are five states that have no retail sales tax, so there are only 21 states where they won’t be able to file the sales tax return for you.
The legislation, as it now stands in the Senate, doesn’t mandate the collection of sales tax for online sales from out-of-state vendors. It permits states to start requiring payment of sales taxes.
If a state wants to start collecting said taxes, they’re going to have to make it easy to pay taxes. Taxes that aren’t easy to pay don’t get paid.
Then they need to re-examine their value proposition.
How will the online taxes that are collected get funneled down to the local level?
Suppliers (wholesalers) and manufacturers do not collect sales taxes. They only sell to holders of resale certificates.
Sales taxes apply only to retail sales.
The same way the currently collected sales taxes do.
Correct.
And when I buy “wholesale” from a for-real wholesaler who doesn’t want to collect sales tax, I have to show my retail sales tax cert #, or go find a retailer who will do the collection of the sales tax.
There’s a plumbing supply place in town where I do a lot of business. They’ll sell to homeowners and DIY repair folks, but the actual sale of the parts has to go through a plumber. My plumbing shop calls over to the wholesaler, tells them I’m coming over, I pick up the part, the plumber bills me their wholesale price on the item, plus sales tax, and I do the plumbing.
Taxes, taxes, taxes. :)
That’s what it’s all about. :D
States already have the power to do “origin” based sales tax. Federal legislation is not required for this idea.
State legislators don’t want to do this because of their local business lobbies, because they don’t want to be seen as responsible for enacting additional taxes and because high sales tax states like CA, NY and IL would be disadvantaged when shoppers flock and businesses relocate to states with lower sales tax rates.
This legislation is their cluster**** solution to their political problems. The states pass the buck to the Feds and the Feds claim its not a new tax, just a new enforcement method, plus these are state taxes so blame your state for the high sales tax rates.
I live in a non sales tax state by choice, but this law will force me at my own expense to become a tax collector for 45 states that I do not live in and cannot vote in while making me legally liable for any errors I might make and subject to their tax law, audits, fines and punishment.
It’s not enough that I am a tax slave to the Fedgov and the state I live in. I now get to be everybody’s tax b*tch.
Keep in mind that Cornholio IS the Senate Minority Whip.
He really can herd them cats, can’t he?
Can’t wait to “retire” him during his next primary race. Ted Cruz needs a better pardner in the Senate.
this is the “Best Buy” tax.
Best Buy has out of date products, HORRIBLE service, terrible staff, scamming contracts, so to save themselves they want to eliminate competition.
they will not.
People will just buy from overseas sources.
Bypass the USA entirely.
States cant create money to spend like the Fed can so they have to raise taxes instead.
This bill in effect raises taxes while leaving all parties: congress and same states denying that they raised taxes.
So they tax our Amazon making Walmarts happy to get $$$ to their campaigns and then they all (Congress and states) Mdeny they raised any of our taxes.
Its a perfect crime.
But if the GOP joins in this then they are traitors who only see $$$ as important.
McCain has obviously decided this is his last term in Senate and to stab us in the back on every issue that comes up.
” Democrats stare you in the face, tell you they are going to take more of your money, and then do it every chance they get.
Republicans stare you in the face, tell you they believe in lower taxes at the same time they are doing a reach-around to clean out your wallet.”
Politics in 2013.
Deadly accurate!
I think I will imitate Diogenes, grab a lamp, and walk the darkened streets, looking fo an honest REPUBLICAN.
” We are nothing to the (Senate) GOP. Between this and amnesty I am pretty close to writing them off completely, not that they care.”
Don’t forget the Drinker of the House.
” The masters $$$$ command both parties in the Senate with $$$, and they DEMAND amnesty workers and demand raising sales taxes on us and those online businesses, by being the tax collector for the states here.
Like i said, the GOP will fight tooth and nail against a Warren Buffet tax on themselves, but raising taxes on us the middle class who use the internet with credit cards is on the top of their lists. “
GOP = Got Our Perks
GOP = Got Our Pension
What’s in YOUR wallet?
LMAO!
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