Free Republic

The California Legislature is looking at a voluntary program that would tax motorists for every mile they drive.KCAL9’s Bobby Kaple reports that Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, introduced a bill to test out the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax because the state’s gas tax was no longer bringing in the revenue it used to due to people driving more fuel efficient vehicles.The program is modeled after ones in Oregon and Washington.“We want to do as Washington and Oregon have done in a much bigger state with much longer commutes…to make sure that we find out whether it would work, whether the...

Sick of the gas tax? What about a tax on every mile you drive? A new bill going through Sacramento would tax drivers for every mile they are on the road. The state gasoline tax of 52.9 cents per gallon could be replaced with a "miles driven fee" of $0.05 cents or so per mile driven, under state legislation proposed by a Bay Area lawmaker. State transit officials note that there's not nearly enough money available to fix the many bridges and roads in California that are in desperate need of repair. A federal highway fund, based on taxes on...

The majority of Americans have now filed their taxes. And the majority of Americans have done so incorrectly. There is one mistake, in particular, that lots of people made: They bought tax-free things online or in another state — and they failed to pay tax on their purchase in their home state. It's called a use tax. As far as I can tell, accountants and tax lawyers are some of the only people who pay it. Forty-five states have a use tax. About 1.6 percent of the taxpayers in those 45 states actually pay the use tax. So I figured...

U.S. states could collect millions of dollars in online sales taxes, with members of both parties in Congress sponsoring legislation Thursday that would resolve states' decades-long struggle to tax businesses beyond their borders. "Small businesses and states alike are suffering from the inability to collect due — not new — taxes from purchases made online," said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., adding the legislation is a "bipartisan, bicameral, common-sense solution that promotes states' rights and levels the playing field for our Main Street businesses." Legislation on the Amazon tax, named for the colossal Internet retailer, has languished for years. ..... <...

Using a 1935 law.. some think you may owe the state more money. If you’ve had something shipped to your home from out of state .. you may owe the state of California more money. The tax board is talking about collecting the so-called ‘use tax’ for anything that you’ve had delivered to your home from out of state. (They’re looking for new ways to collect taxes.) Never heard of the ‘Use Tax?” You’re not alone. They dug deep to get this one - under a 1935 law, Californians would owe a ‘use tax’ on any out-of-state purchases. That’s right...

California's severe budget squeeze and a stagnant economy have rekindled a political war over how Internet purchases should be taxed – if, indeed, they could be taxed. California already has one of the nation's highest sales tax rates, approaching 10 percent in some communities. But it's applied only to transactions inside the state or to mail order and Internet sales when the seller has a "physical presence" in the state. The latter condition – decreed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1992 – is the rub. Technically, Californians who buy from distant sellers are supposed to pay an equivalent "use...

Given the huge amount of controversy about California (770 miles long, 250 miles wide) vs. Amazon... California has decided it wants to worry more about some fish than the central valley, which has been one of the highest, most prolific, profitable areas in the world for years (remember "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Chinatown"? I suspect the tax revenue California might get from a booming central valley exceeds Amazons total revenue by billions. But CA decides it would rather go after an entity in another state. Do you know what they call it when an organism manages to not produce...

An estimated $1.145 billion in use tax owed by Californians goes unpaid each year, according to an estimate released today by the state Board of Equalization. BOE noted that much of the unpaid total is the result of consumers purchasing from out-of-state retailers not required to collect California tax. Many of those purchases are made online or via catalog orders. BOE said the use tax owed is the same as the sales tax that would be due if the purchase were made from an in-state retailer. BOE said it is reminding holiday shoppers to save receipts, calculate the use tax...

we need Congress to "give us permission" to collect state sales tax from out-of-state vendors. ... Everywhere you look, government collects taxes: sales tax, real estate tax, the car tax, and income tax are only the most obvious. For example, my last Verizon bill had over $18 in taxes and "fees." We don't need new taxes. But the bill being considered does not impose a new tax. Virginia has a 5 percent general sales tax. For most purchases, business collects the sales tax with the purchase. However, when a company has no state "presence," they don't have to collect the...

SOUTHWEST HARBOR — The manager of Dysart’s Great Harbor Marina blames a downturn in business on the Maine Revenue Services’ efforts to enforce the use tax on boats. Letters sent to marina customers by Maine Revenue Services (MRS) stating that boat owners might owe a use tax were not well received, according to Micah Peabody, manager. As a result, some of those customers cancelled their plans for tying up at the marina this summer. “We lost some serious revenue,” Peabody said. Maine law requires any boat less than one year old docked in Maine waters for 30 consecutive days or...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Assistant Attorney General Eileen J. O'Connor, of the Justice Department's Tax Division, Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein of the District of Columbia, Mark W. Everson, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner; and Daniel J. Black, Deputy Chief Financial Officer for the District of Columbia's Office of Tax and Revenue, jointly announced the indictment and arrest of Walter Anderson, 51, a local telecommunications entrepreneur, on tax evasion and related charges. A federal grand jury sitting in Washington, D.C. returned the 12-count indictment last Wednesday under seal. Anderson was arrested Saturday, February 26 and will be presented this afternoon before a U.S....