Posted on 04/16/2009 9:09:31 AM PDT by Snoopers-868th
If a little-known but influential alliance of state politicians, large retailers, and tax collectors have their way, the days of tax-free Internet shopping may be nearly over.
A bill expected to be introduced in the U.S. Congress as early as Monday would rewrite the ground rules for mail order and Internet sales by eliminating what its supporters view as a "loophole" that, in many cases, allows Americans to shop over the Internet without paying sales taxes.
Currently, Americans who shop over the Internet from out-of-state vendors aren't always required to pay sales taxes at the time of purchase. Californians buying books from Amazon.com or cameras from Manhattan's B&H Photo, for example, won't pay sales taxes at checkout time that they would if shopping at a local mall.
"We will have the bill ready for introduction by next Monday," said Neal Osten of the National Conference of State Legislatures. "We finalized the language and now we're working out the remaining issues and adding some new provisions at the request of various stakeholders."
This is hardly a new debate: pro-tax officials and state governments have been pressing Congress to enact such a law for at least seven years. They argue that reduced sales tax revenue threatens budgets for schools and police, and say that, as a matter of fairness, online retailers should be forced to collect the same taxes that brick-and-mortar retailers do.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.zdnet.com ...
I bought online from B&H photo and saved a pretty good chunk of change.
They are desperate..They are trying to find every way they can to *Stick* it to the American people..
What’s next..Tax Garage Sales?
Yea, and they want to take this away also. I am sick of being taxed to death. Looks like the internet will be the next area of revenue for this pigs.
Taxes are bad — but, just hitting local retailers with them is even worse. Why should the likes of Amazon be (in effect) subsidized, at the expense of local businesses?
I must be doing something wrong. I always have to pay taxes on my internet purchases.
Lo and behold.
Why should local businesses be punished for locating in your town?
the more greedy the government gets, the more people it shoves over to the tea partiers.
their avarice is our net gain.
Oh, they will do it. They just can’t stand to have anyone get away with no taxes besides those businesses need some more paperwork to do.
I don’t have a problem really paying Idaho sales tax if I buy something on Amazon. Technically we are supposed to declare purchases like that and pay sales tax anyways, it’s just that nobody ever does.
I’m gonna have a big problem if I have to pay California sales tax if the company I buy from is in California.
Gonna have a bigger problem if it’s a national online sales tax that is separate from State sales tax so I get dinged on the income of that money, the sale, and the sale again.
Biggest problem with all this though is it will shut down many online stores as after taxes and shipping it will be cheaper to walk into a store and buy the product, if it’s even available locally.
Good for local stores, but it’s going to be the small mom and pop websites or part time ebayers that get hit, not companies like Amazon.
That’s a good way of putting it.
They have "Permits" in many cities......
That is because you buy from businesses that have a location in your state.
Why should we prop up local business?? What is so special about them?
Thank you.
The power to tax is the power to destroy.
Congress’ mantra is “What shall we destroy today?”
doesn’t matter much, really.
Pretty soon we will all be so poor and unemployed that we won’t have the money or the credit to buy anything over the internet.
sarc?
“A bill expected to be introduced in the U.S. Congress”
Shipping charges make up for sales taxes.
Lead is heavy, Senator Blowhard.
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