Posted on 04/13/2011 5:43:28 AM PDT by John.Galt2012
A Democratic senator is preparing to introduce legislation that aims to end the golden era of tax-free Internet shopping.
The proposal--expected to be made public soon after Tax Day--would rewrite the ground rules for Internet and mail order sales by eliminating the ability of Americans to shop at Web sites like Amazon.com and Overstock.com without paying state sales taxes.Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second most senior Senate Democrat, will introduce the bill after the Easter recess, a Democratic aide told CNET.
"Why should out-of-state companies that sell their products online have an unfair advantage over Main Street bricks-and-mortar businesses?" Durbin said in a speech in Collinsville, Ill., in February. "Out-of-state companies that aren't paying their fair share of taxes are sticking Illinois residents and businesses with the tab."
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20052999-281.html#ixzz1JPD9rpmK
(Excerpt) Read more at news.cnet.com ...
Probably not anymore than Tennessee FReepers can explain Lamar! Alexander. He's called for internet taxes, and introduced several bills on the topic over the past 10 years or so. He also authored a bill recently that passed, but had to be reintroduced in the House because it contained new spending provisions. Since he's one of my Senators I sent him a copy of the Constitution but haven't heard back from him yet.....
Could you possible be referring to that “Outdate, outmoded, old fashioned, obsolete document formerly known as the CONSITITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”?
It appears to have been relegated to the same scrap heap of history. I sort of miss it quite a bit.
It’s not just Durbin who’s responsible:
“Update 10:30 a.m. PT: I’ve heard back from Sen. Mike Enzi’s office. It sent me e-mail this morning saying: “Senator Enzi plans to co-sponsor the Main Street Fairness bill with Senator Durbin. As far as a timeline or drafts, you’ll have to check with Senator Durbin’s office.”
Constituents better get on the horn to Enzi’s office about this ASAP. If he doesn’t get his head on straight, shove him off Devil’s Tower.
No problemo. By the time they Repubs and Rats get done there will be no sales.
This has NOTHING to do with “fairness” it’s all about the $.
Another way to look at it is that these companies are a huge boon to Illinois consumers tired of getting ripped off on sales taxes by the Springfield idiots. The sales tax in CA was less than 3% when I moved here in 1973 -- today it is just below 10%. I do as much shopping on the Net as possible to avoid paying it.
I like the FAIR SHARE bs that these clowns spew!
How about a networth tax on all congressional office holders Mr Durban?
There's an angle to this that hasn't gotten a lot of attention, too. What kind of negative effect would a tax measure like this have on the U.S. Postal Service? There is an entire industry (FedEx, UPS and the USPS) built up around small package deliveries for mail-order and internet transactions.
To make it fair just remove the state sales tax so in-state business can compete.
Here’s a new phenomena. A Democrat wanting to tax something. LOL!
As my late Granny from Valdosta used to say...The South will rise again.
This CAN’T have anything to do with FatWallet’s decision the other day to move a few miles to Wisconsin to avoid Illinois’ sales tax, could it?
Durbin is easy to explain, he’s an idiot, far left liberal.
A real POS.
It's painful having a Democrat argue for a position you agree with, because they are such idiots and make such stupid arguments that it is embarrasing.
Sales taxes are not taxes on companies, so providing for sales tax collection on internet sales has nothing to do wih "companies that aren't paying their fair share of taxes". Sales tax is a tax on the purchasers, not the companies.
I still think he's right. States should be able to collect sales taxes for purchases made by residents of their states of items delivered to those residences within the states.
And only the federal government can enable this, because the feds are given the responsibility for regulating interstate commerce.
They can do this as simply as requiring that companies doing more than a million in sales to a state provide a list of names of purchasers and the amounts purchased to the state in electronic form. It would cost virtually nothing for companies who have that level of sales, it wouldn't unduly present the state with details of a person's purchases, and wouldn't even require the companies to handle money.
The state could use the records to help audit the tax reports for the purchasers to ensure they are following state law in reporting purchases. This would be no different from requiring employers to provide W-2 information, and banks to provide 1099 information, to ensure people obey the tax laws.
States have a big problem collecting the sales tax that is due by state law. They require people to pay the sales tax if it isn't collected, but they have no way of knowing, and it costs too much to simply investigate everybody.
I'm going to file use taxes of about $87 this year to my state for my internet purchases. I do this because I am a law-abiding citizen who believes that when I sign a form that says I have reported everything truthfully, it is my duty to God and country to not lie under that oath.
I know a lot of conservatives think that lying under oath is OK for the purposes of cheating on their taxes. A lot of them are upset with any move that makes it harder to cheat on their taxes. They hide behind argument that government taxes people too much, suggesting that this gives them the right to get out of taxes other people pay under law.
It probably doesn’t matter to you, but you should know that when you sign your state income tax form, you are testifying under oath that you are truthfully reporting your information. And under California law, you are required to report your internet purchases, and pay the equivalent sales tax. If you don’t do that, and you sign your tax form, you are lying under oath, and are a tax cheat.
In other circumstances, we conservatives mock democrats for failing to pay their required taxes.
I’m with you on the first point. On the effect on package deliveries, realise that a LOT of companies which deliver mail-order DO collect sales taxes, because they also operate normal stores. So when we talk about unfair competitive advantages due to skewed tax policy, it’s not just local stores being unfairly burdened, but also an unfair burden between internet companies.
Barnes and Noble and Amazon both sell books mail-order, but B&N is required by law to collect sales tax for most purchasers, while Amazon is not. The purchasers are required by their state laws to pay the sales tax directly, but Amazon gets a competitive advantage by helping their customers cheat on their taxes.
BTW, people who DO want to cheat on their sales taxes, and think it is their patriotic duty, should realise they are missing a major opportunity. Rather than simply buying over the internet and then lying on their income tax forms, they should forge non-profit letters and use them to avoid paying local sales taxes.
“Mock”? Not me. I want the same deals the big-time shysters get: Timmy TurboTax Geithner, Charles Rangel, John Kerry, et al.
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