Posted on 02/10/2011 1:13:01 PM PST by trumandogz
they already tax the ground.We should all request that Betles song be plated ....the taxman.
Aw, man ... I always got overnight shipping from that Texas center. Sad to hear. Hopefully, they’ll move not much further away. Hey, Amazon, NE Louisiana is looking for business along an interstate/railroad corridor very near the Mississippi River. Great workforce too! Come on over!
My husband has the Kindle with free 3G & WiFi and really likes it. The Kindle has a primitive web browser and the 3G’s come in handy a few times when we’ve been out and about.
I have the Kindle app installed on a rickety old laptop and am happy with that. Barnes & Noble now has a Nook app available but I haven’t given it a try.
Because sales taxes across the board are not going to be dropped in a state that has no income tax. There has to be some form of tax.
So, in order for tangible retail stores to have a fair playing ground, the taxes should be applied equally. Otherwise, the government is picking winners with tax policy (which I know happens in other ares, and I still dont like it).
Why would a tax on what you earn be ideal as opposed to a tax on what you purchase?
Personally, I support the sales tax over the income because it taxes everyone. Right now, there are quite a few people who pay no income tax, and so they dont understand the burden taxes put on people. To me, the only way to treat people the same would be to tax the sale of each item the same.
The state probably needs to seize the assets until it is sure that all taxes have been paid.
Australia just implemented a flood tax. What will they think of next?
The 6" Kindle(s) I have work both with Wi-Fi and 3G (Amazon calls this Whispernet.) My latest model cost about $190, and I strongly recommend getting both Wi-Fi and 3G capabilities. If you don't have Wi-Fi, you would necessarily receive your book transmissions by 3G.
I read a lot, and am absolutely sold on the Kindle. It has changeable size fonts, which is a blessing to an older guy like me. A lot of older classics are free, and most recent books are $9.99 or under.
I live in Texas and Amazon has never charged me sales tax on any purchase, and it’s part of the reason they get a lot of my business.
Thanks, FRiend.
I saw that. Amazing. What's next--a sunny day tax?
The problem is that a sales tax taxes everyone. Food, housing and energy costs fall as a percent of income as income rises. At the lower end they take up nearly all of a persons income.
How do you make it politically palatable to gobble up the poor's already scarce resources? Better a Flat tax with a declining rate over time as the economy grows government as a percent of said economy declines.
You then support the poor with a Negative Income Tax.
Look up the Winter 2011 edition of City Journal. They have a great article on it.
If I live on the border of a low or no sales tax state, is it immoral for me to drive across the border to make my purchases? Why or why not?
If I can order something on line from a low or no tax state, then why shouldn't I?
Barnes and Noble and Borders problem was that they encourage the cheap and lazy class to come in, hang around a few hours, read the books, drink a cup of coffee and never buy anything.
I won't blame, or penalize Amazon for having a far better business plan.
Thats a different example. There is nothing immoral about living somewhere and buying somewhere else. Look at the people in SC who work in Charlotte. What is wrong is charging one retailer a tax without charging another retailer the same tax. Then you have the government acting as an agent against a retailer.
As for the business plan, Amazon is great, minimizing overhead and inventory. Nothing wrong with that.
In this case we have one retailer across the border in a no tax state and one retailer local.
We've already determined that it is fine for me to drive across the border to buy from them. Why wouldn't it also be ok to call them on the phone, or use the net, to order from them and have it shipped? It's the same exact thing. If they have no presence in the state then the state cannot force them to do anything.
Now the Texas case specifically is different because Amazon "may" have a presence in Texas. It claims that the distribution center is a legallydistinct organization. If it is, That is if Amazon pays the distribution center to send orders out, then Amazon has no presence in the state.
I'd guess it to be analogous to the Coca-Cola distribution method. Coca-Cola is based somewhere (Atlanta?) yet they have independant bottling companies scattered across the land. They don't own the bottlers, they just use them.
Its not about them being in a different state. My point was that internet business should be taxed the same way that brick and mortar businesses should. If a state (Tx) charges sales tax in a location, then it should charge sales tax virtually.
How many states dont require a sales tax?
As for the phone, if you drive from one state to another, you are doing business in the state you drove to. If you call or order online, then you are actually doing business in both. Since sales tax is usually pushed through to the final destination, then the state you order from should be the amount of tax you pay. Its the same as ordering from the Sears catalog. If we exempt sales tax because it is a virtual business, how is that creating a fair and free marketplace?
The answer to making men free is to free the slaves, not to enslave the rest of men.
If you want sales taxes to be equal then stop charging sales tax to the retail stores. Problem solved.
Taxing an entity that has no presence in your state is evil. The government of texas (or any other state) has no right to charge sales tax to a business not in it's state.
They can come after the buyers and try to collect the tax, but then most buyers have slept since then and don't remember ever buying anything over the internet.
Destroying one segemnt of the free market will not help any other segment. Eventually the business activity will just go entirely black market. (And justifiably so in my opinion)
Then advocate for no sales tax at all. But when sales tax exists, it must be applied equally. And sales tax isnt going away. Would you prefer only income tax and no sales tax?
Im pretty sure that people who buy online remember doing it.
Actually I'd prefer federal sales tax and no income tax (Fair tax). On the local level I see no logic in letting a state tax an activity in another state. If the business has no presence in the state it cannot be taxed there
Ok, thats something to shoot for.
In the meantime, do you support taxing one entity for making a sale and not taxing another? Are you in favor of the government using tax policy to pick successful businesses?
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