Posted on 11/25/2011 4:36:46 PM PST by Comparative Advantage
After the national sales taxes are passed against Internet/mail order purchases, the local, yocal merchants in organized crime will be even more thoroughly defeated. They’re too lazy and too much in support of local socialism to compete with Internet retailers.
Walmart supports and is lobbying for this law because they already have to collect sales on and offline because they have a physical presence in all 50 states.
They don’t want Mom and Pop’s selling on the internet and able to meet or beat their price advantage because the M&P doesn’t charge sales tax.
Heck, I've seen TV commercials showing the process in action.
However, it will take some very fancy footwork to eliminate the Constitutional prohibition of a state charging residents of other states any sort of charges by whatever name, for the privilege of simply buying anything.
Either you or I are failing to understand what is proposed.
If Nevada has no sales tax California would force web businesses there to collect California-magnitude sales taxes anyway.
exactly.
Not that its going to help Kalipornia anyway. The cost of doing business there is so much higher than other states that even with an online sales tax, it won’t make them competitive.
There are two distinct issues here. One is competition. These retailers just don’t like the competition. Because with shipping sales taxes equal out.
The second issue is a state and local government spending problem. It isn’t that they don’t receive enough revenue it’s that they’ve spent it poorly.
Brick and mortar stores are spared higher sales taxes only in that the Internet provides a relief valve thus holding sales tax hikes down. Remember that we only got an income tax after Arizona became a state. That gave Americans no where to hide in the CONUS to avoid an income tax.
This is a game and as soon as they tax the Internet they’ll simply spend all that money as well and then look to ‘close another loophole’.
Folks it is our money they’re legally stealing.
Online sales are probably really beginning to cut into state sales tax revenue. I expect online vendors will be taxed for that reason. And, also, any retailer of any size is now also online so people can go to retail stores or just order online from most major retailers.
IIRC a loophole is the point at which a freeman defends his castle/home from an attacking force. In this case tax ‘loophole’ has a positive connotation.
Let’s keep as many loopholes as possible from which we may defend ourselves from the government’s reavers.
The Golden Rule of Laws is that if it has the word ‘fairness’ in it, it most certainly isn’t.
All the more reason to hold the line. By starving the Leviathan you kill it. Feeding it just makes it worse.
I haven't seen any breakdowns, but revenues have been down in most states during the recession. Some decrease would be due to the recession and some probably due to increasing, untaxed retail sales on the internet.
The reason this tax will eventually pass in all likelihood is politicians of both parties will view online sales taxes as simply recouping lost taxes on retail sales that have shifted to online vendors, and as leveling the playing field to remove the disadvantage to brick and mortar retail outlets.
Politicians will view this as recouped revenue and not new revenue, or new taxes.
“How about an email tax next?? “
Actually several years ago the US post office suggested charging something like 3 cents for every email and giving it to them to recompense them for lost revenue. Fortunately it didn’t go anywhere but who knows what the future will bring.
My favorite is when you go into Best Bor or, more recently, Staples, pore over the specs on the display models and then find out the one you want is not available.
The brick-and-mortar stores aren’t going to get as much out of this trick as they think. My time and gas saved alone still outweighs sales tax and shipping.
If Brick-and-Mortar stores want online vendors to pay tax they should have to charge the equivalent of the shipping cost to have each item individually sent to your doorstep from their distribution center. I mean, it's only fair and we are talking about fairness right? Why should UPS, FedEx, or the USPS, be screwed out of making a buck on something the Brick-and-Mortar folks sell? That's not fair. In fact, why not just make it illegal to ship anything someone buys over the Internet by any means other than the USPS? Or, better still, that all companies that sell over the Internet hire a specific number of people who goof off, show up late, and are rude to customers?
Brick-and-Mortar stores have an advantage if they use it, and that's having the item right now for a good price with no waiting. More often than not, though, if you want something other than the top few selling items in any category, you're told to order it from the vendor's Internet site anyway. So, if they're relying on the Internet sales angle to keep their inventory down, then they need to shut up and suffer the consequences. The last three electronic items I tried to purchase as Best Buy they didn't have in stock but, "could get it in three days". Yeah, so can I and from a wide variety of vendors. I wanted it right then, not three days from right then and what did I get? I got told to do exactly what the SOBs are griping about, order it over the Internet.
I used to work for a brick and mortar store trying to set up an online store themselves. I really don’t know what these whiners are complaining about. We had a competitive advantage because we had people who were actually trained who were happy to provide CUSTOMER SERVICE!
If these folks can’t close a sale, then they need to look at themselves in the mirror.
You hit the nail on the head.
Regards
Hope you are right but I can see them passing it narrowly, too.
and when they do, someone will unleash economic revolution by enabling people to get around the whole freaking problem. it's just too easy. This will probably quietly lead to the ignominious fall of the taxers. Because the taxer don't deserve the benefit of the doubt or the authority to spend the money they take, any any more. There are so so many people who feel the same way. So sorry, it's the 21st century now. The last millenium is over over over so over. Sorry Mr Obama the chia pet. You sock thingie.
Your analysis is correct as to how politicians will frame it. The result will not be an improvement in brick and mortar store sales. My hope is that it will get nixed. ‘Fairness’ is a wedge.
How do you frame it so that the recouped tax argument being used is falsified? Is there a logical and easily understood rebuttal?
” RE :”Republicans traditionally have opposed the online sales tax as a new “Internet tax,” but their resistance is crumbling. The bill was introduced Nov. 9 with five Democratic and five Republican sponsors. .....
The House version, the Marketplace Fairness Act, also has Republican support. Both bills include an exemption from the online sales-tax requirement for businesses with less than $500,000 in remote sales. Opponents of the online sales tax said the proposals would harm remote sellers and noted that previous bills offered $5 million exemptions”
Bipartision stab in the back?? “
Y E S !!
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