Posted on 06/29/2005 12:42:12 PM PDT by rit
Modernizes the sales and use tax.
As reported by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on June 20, 2005, with amendments. An Act modernizing the sales and use tax, amending and supplementing P.L.1966, c.30 and amending P.L.1980, c.105.
(Excerpt) Read more at njleg.state.nj.us ...
It introduces a 6% use tax on any tangible personal property (including software), however acquired, where not acquired for purposes of resale, upon which any taxable services has been performed. Online providers of premium subscription based services may have to pay a 6% tax on the software they use to provide the service.
This raises some serious questions for people looking at open source as an alternative to paying premiums for proprietary software. Consider, for example, purchasing RedHat Linux, installing PHP and MySql. Each component is licensed separately and you may have to pay 6% on each component acquired. (Same license, but different software authors so you cannot claim they are bundled; more proof you say? go read the RedHat license)
You will fool yourself if you say, so what, the software is free. "The tax shall be at the applicable rate, as set forth hereinabove, of the consideration given or contracted to be given for the service"
And the idiot voters of this state keep on handing them the power to enact those taxes. The idiots in this state will never get it at this point.
Using that logic, when you mow your own lawn, you owe the state a tax at the applicable rate you would owe if you paid the neighbor's kid to cut it.
So anytime you do anything for yourself instead of contracting to do it, you owe the same tax as if you actually paid somebody else to do it.
I think your wishful thinking about how open source software can be destroyed by this is...
...dare I say it?
...wishful thinking.
No problem. 6% of zero is...zero.
Anyhow, I spoke with my assemblyman today who said the bill is not yet in final form to be voted on. The bill is a senate bill and since they are not up for reelection now, they do not really care about questions or concerns being raised. But, the assembly is coming up for reelection and they do care.
The bill, as currently drafted introduces a 6% tax on digital goods, and, a 6% "use" tax. I am simply trying to understand what the current wording means.
To be fair, the assemblyman's office said that the bill is undergoing revision and is not on tomorrow's bill list. This means it is not in final form. The upside is that now would be a good time to try to make sense of what they are up to and voice concerns as appropriate.
Ask them if they are going to tax you for mowing your own lawn.
Sam Perelli, 66, Tax Activist, resurrected a river, Founder of United Taxpayers of NJ
The US Supreme Court fully backed the interpretation of the Commerce Clause to include the ability for states to tax their citizens for all activities, services, and goods that can be construed as "Commerce" by the Raich decision.
The ability for anything to be in competition with anything else that is considered Commerce, is now also commerce, unless the US government or individual state governments specifically write laws and regulations that remove it from the realm of "Commerce".
I expect every state to quickly jump onto this bandwagon and start taxing every human activity within a few years if Raich isn't declawed by Congress.
I hope I'm being facetious, E. P U.
So the Hell do I!!!
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