Connecticut Joins the eTax Fray (Internet to Be Taxed in Conn.)

Stop eTaxes ^ | 3/22/10 | Kelly William Cobb

[Andrea19]

...While the Connecticut bill is still being held in committee, lawmakers wisely decided to stall similar legislation (SB 806) last year. Connecticut residents: remind your state lawmakers why they didn’t enact an e-tax last session.

[Andrea19]

All state budgets are drying away, but in a state with hedge funds and other businesses located near NYC, does Connecticut want to risk driving away its citizens?

[Frantzie]

Tax the hedge funds in CT. Move illegal aliens into Martha Stewart’s garden.

[underground]

No one seems to learn! I work in e-retail myself and I've written previously about how these affiliate taxes have played out in the states that implement them. Long story short, there is no way that my web-based business and affiliate partners will ever be able to conform to a bunch of sales taxes passed by each various state and country in the world. Its much easier for the big partners to just abandon taxed states and take their jobs elsewhere. One click and your affiliation is terminated - its so easy to end this type of business relationship, and there's no shortage of people in other states and countries who are willing to do the work and spend the money in their own communities instead.

[NorCoGOP]

You can kiss Amazon partner links goodbye...that was announced days after Colorado instituted the same tax...Amazon bailed.

Laws have unintended consequences, and myopic "we need revenue NOW, screw the future" will guarantee their doom....

[BenKenobi]

Hmm, sucks when the businesses can simply relocate.

[Crim]

“Hmm, sucks when the businesses can simply relocate.”

For now...I’m sure they will seek to rectifiy that...

[CharlesWayneCT]

Is this an imposition of the collection of sales tax onto internet companies, or is it a new tax on internet access?

[CharlesWayneCT]

Long story short, there is no way that my web-based business and affiliate partners will ever be able to conform to a bunch of sales taxes passed by each various state and country in the world. Its

That is patently false. Many web-based businesses already successfully collect and deliver sales tax revenue to states, INCLUDING Amazon.com for goods it sells that are from partners with business in the states.

The list of online retailers which collect sales taxes on all states is huge, and belies the notion that it is "too hard". Sears.com, borders.com, barnesandnoble.com, target.com, amazon.com, walmart.com, kmart.com, bestbuy.com, staples.com, officedepot.com, lowes.com, homedepot.com, .....

You get the point: We live in the 21st century. Everything has bar codes, every state could easily provide an online tax calculation based on delivery address.

Affiliates are just a hook to get to the actual retailers -- it's a stupid way to try to get this done. We should just pass a federal law allowing states to require collections. If a company doesn't want to collect, they can simply NOT deliver into states that collect.

And if the people IN those states decide they would rather get stuff and have to deal with the tax themselves, they can elect representatives to their state legislature that would repeal the tax.

Put the power back in the hands of the people effected -- pass the federal law to allow states to do this, and be done with all this stupid "affiliate-tied" state involvement.