Florida Legislature to Propose Internet Sales Tax

Americans for Prosperity Florida (via email) ^ | 2/1/2012 | Americans for Prosperity

[kara2008]

The Senate has confirmed our fears and on Thursday they will be proposing a new tax on Internet purchases. During a full-fledged recession, leave it to the Florida Legislature to propose a new tax - and one that they have questionable constitutional authority to enact.

On Thursday morning the Senate Subcommittee on Finance and Tax, chaired by Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, will propose SB 7206 for consideration.

This bill would institute a new sales tax on Internet purchases if the retailer uses affiliates or referrals in the state. This bill aims to tax transactions by companies like Amazon, and has been proposed in a number of other states.

Despite what the bills proponents would like people to think, it will in fact harm Floridians by eliminating revenue for those companies that refer business. Similar proposals have also failed to bring in the revenue wind-fall many claimed they would.

To sum it up - SB 7206 is a tax increase through and through and we must put a stop to this bad bill!

Click here to read AFP's letter in opposition to SB 7206.

Click here to take action and voice your opposition to SB 7206

[kara2008]

I received this email from AFP about the proposed Florida Internet sales tax today. Has anyone else heard about it? I sent an email via AFP to oppose the bill, but I'm not holding my breath. It's infuriating that they keep adding more fees and taxes instead of reducing spending.

[kara2008]

FL ping!

[Will88]

Not sure what various internet vendors are doing on this issue, but my most recent purchase from Amazon (a Kindle ebook download) had an 8% tax charge added to the invoice. It didn’t specify what type tax it was, but 8% is the sales tax rate where I live.

[Myrddin]

Time to establish a virtual address in a state without sales tax for those electronic downloads. My online accounts reflect my home address in Idaho. I'm working out of state right now. My purchases still reference my home. That's where I'm going when I finish the assignment. If I had a home address in Wyoming, I wouldn't have to deal with the sales tax issue at all.

[Will88]

Just double-checked. A $12.99 Kindle ebook and a charge of $14.03. I wonder if others are getting tax charges from Amazon?

And last night I entered an order for something from Office Max and was charged sales tax. Didn’t place the order, but decided to just pick the item up at a nearby store. I don’t know if OM ships online orders from a warehouse or from retail stores.

[Myrddin]

When I'm home in Idaho, I have very few bookstores. The closest is 53 miles north in Idaho Falls. Amazon is my default way to buy books. I did most of my book buying at Borders in San Diego before they went out of business. The Borders weekly discounts made them competitive with Amazon (for the buyer). I choose not to purchase from Amazon while in San Diego as I don't have a permanent address. E-book purchases only and not from Amazon.