Report: Congress Set to End Tax-Free Online Shopping

For the past decade and a half, most Internet shoppers haven't been forced to pay sales tax while buying goods online.

But now, according to CNet News, an alliance of "brick-and-mortar" retailers and state governments has teamed up to end that — and they've crafted federal legislation that may be introduced in Congress as early as next week.

"So, what I’m saying is that if states fund their operations by these sales taxes, by any type of rational type of reasoning, you know that if the states end up allowing the purchases by Internet for goods by their citizens to go untaxed (while purchases for goods in person are taxed) — then — it’s only a matter of time before just about *everything* is sold on the Internet (houses, cars, food, even gasoline..., etc...) and the state has absolutely no sales taxes."

ROFLOL!!

.....Goods RIGHT NOW...purchased on-line ARE taxed. How in the world do you think I'm gonna buy a tank of gasoline over the net...tax free. Let alone getting it shipped to me. ROFLOL!!!

You talk of rational reasoning....but you sure as heck ain't doing it here.........

Buy it in another state online, and then the business has an agreement with another company to “give” you gas from their agreement with a company in another state..., you just go to the pump, punch in your code from the online purchase, and voila! — you’ve got your gas.... LOL...

Internet entrepreneurs are *innovative* — doncha know... :-)

I mean, I could figure that one out in a few seconds... how long do you think it would be for the entrepreneurial types to make their millions from avoiding state taxes... :-)

No they're not supposed to be paying it.

Yes, they are, actually. Look up "use tax" sometime for more details. Generally, you are supposed to self-report these types of purchases and pay the taxes on them. Most people do not do so, of course, which shows that a) the laws lack "teeth" and b) large-scale tax disobedience works.

That said, I see no logical, moral, or ethical reason (other than implementation issues) why internet/mail order/etc. shopping should be free of state and local taxes. The biggest argument is always which jurisdiction to tax in -- I say split the difference and charge half the tax rate for each of the seller's and buyer's jurisdictions, and remit the revenues accordingly.

E.g., seller lives in an area with a 5% sales tax. Buyer lives in an area with an 8% sales tax. On a $100 purchase, the seller's side tax would be $2.50 (2.5% of $100) and the buyer's side tax would be $4.00 (4% of $100), for a total tax of $6.50.

kevkrom, you were saying — That said, I see no logical, moral, or ethical reason (other than implementation issues) why internet/mail order/etc. shopping should be free of state and local taxes. The biggest argument is always which jurisdiction to tax in — I say split the difference and charge half the tax rate for each of the seller’s and buyer’s jurisdictions, and remit the revenues accordingly.

—

Well, for one example of how one company does it — is Apple, through it’s Apple iTunes store. First the Apple iTunes store has each county’s tax figures. That’s a “piece of cake” and shouldn’t be any problem at all. You simply have all the counties in the United States and it goes into a “table” and you’ve got the tax rate associate with each zip code. The zip code tells what county.

Now, there are times when they may not have the exact county, so they will ask on the form and list the relevant counties. For example, in a Portland address, there are three possible counties, so if the iTunes store cannot distinguish which of the three it is — it simply asks you, and you do the pull-down menu and choose the county.

But, it’s *so darned simple* — it’s like falling off a log, even simpler than that. It’s all in a table, and all the rates are there, linked to addresses. You get the address and BINGO! — you’ve got the tax rate.

And with this *all* being done by computer, it’s like..., uhhhh..., well..., 2 plus 2... that hard...

All this stuff about how difficult it is and all the trouble and so on..., is an absolutely ludicrous idea, if you know “computers”... It’s as difficult as making an address label to use for mailing... LOL...

Heck! From Internet order form, to order, to check to taxing authorities... a human being never touches it... It’s all done by machines and nothing more is needed. It’s not that hard to do.

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