Posted on 12/06/2012 11:10:02 AM PST by Red Badger
This may be the last Christmas of online shopping without paying sales tax.
A proposed online sales tax has been offered as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, much to the ire of opponents.
The Computer and Communications Industry Association, a group that opposes this move, says that an online sales tax will burden small businesses, “some of the most promising candidates for future economic growth.”
“This proposal, and other online sales tax collection proposals like it, would allow states to penalize the innovative e-commerce business model by targeting small online businesses as convenient sources (and collectors) of revenue,” said CCIA President and CEO Ed Black.
The Marketplace Fairness Act, and its House counterpart the Marketplace Equity Act, seek to clarify, and arguably overturn, a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that requires retailers to have a physical presence in a state in order to collect sales tax on goods.
“Severing the relationship between taxation and physical presence would be a fundamental transformation in how we consider taxes,” Black continued. “Such a significant step deserves more extensive consideration than attachment to the unrelated Defense Authorization bill.”
Still, a recent poll indicates that the majority of Americans support the idea, describing an online sales tax as “common sense”. They also feel that a tax for online purchases would encourage people to buy local and keep tax dollars in their community.
“Local retailers invest in their communities and play a significant role in the overall quality of life in the places we call home,” said Betsy Laird, senior vice president of global public policy for the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Collecting the tax across state lines however poses as a challenge for small businesses that sell their goods in multiple states.
“It is not the job of small businesses to collect taxes to provide tax revenue relief for state and local governments outside their jurisdiction,” Black said, suggesting that an online tax would protect existing businesses at the expense of consumers and growth.
Some Republicans are on board, with Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi as “the most overlooked tax loophole.”
“We are optimistic that once the Marketplace Fairness Act is brought for a vote, it will have enough support to pass,” said Illinois Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin’s spokeswoman, Christina Mulka.
Both Sens. Durbin and Enzi have offered the bill as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.
“Sen. Durbin is focused on working with his colleagues to try to get a vote on the bill before the end of this year, whether as a stand-alone bill or part of a larger piece of legislation,” Mulka said. “They are keeping all options on the table at this point.”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/04/online-sales-tax-to-be-added-to-defense-authorization-bill/#ixzz2EIfvANTs
No one in DC is aware of that.
Once everybody is "chipped" the calculations will be automatic.
Screw the Kulaks, the Big Multinational Corporations will make out just fine.
However, if it does happen, I guarantee that there will be companies that 'will do all the tax calculations (and collections) for you' for a fee.
“They also feel that a tax for online purchases would encourage people to buy local and keep tax dollars in their community”
Who did they consult, the Chamber of Commerce in Bumwad, Nowhere? Get your own money, you greedy so and sos.
Well for the rest of us that will go on living in the real world this is a huge tax that must never see the light of day.
Will any states the package moves through also want part of the action? A shipping / transit tax?
What if I buy from England? Tariffs?
Could they just say a online purchase tax is collect by the vendor using the vendor's local rate where the vendor's HQ is located? Of course, this would cause vendors to move to states with no sales tax.
Simple. A new tax on top of all the others!
The GOP should vote it down
Have used Amazon UK from time to time and over here are exempt from the VAT. Shipping isn’t that much either and we actually saved on some purchases. May be doing this more often in future it seems
Hey Stupid Libs! The honeymoon is over, Sugar Daddy has gone to play golf and left you behind to wash dishes. Enjoy!
I work for an online retailer. In our state, sales tax differs from county to county. That’s a matter of programming in the zip and collecting the right amount of tax...but in the end, it’s all sent to the state we’re in.
Once this sales tax is collected from every different state and each state has their own tax rate or if they’re like our state, several different sales tax rates (which is a programming nightmare)...where is the money going to be sent, who is going to distribute it back to the states, who keeps track of what money was collected for what state. Are they expecting the small online business person to do this?
Enforcement of the tax is government control of the internet. The IRS will control commerce, healthcare choices, internet and all communication technologies that could be used for any activity related to commerce. But you can trust the IRS, they exist for your own benefit. (And to punish any one who does not venerate our leader. All together now! Hail Obama, Hail Obama we who are about to be taxed to poverty salute you!)
There is no such thing. This may be the last Christmas where it is easy to cheat on your sales taxes by purchasing things online, but every state with a sales tax already requires people to pay sales tax on items purchased on the internet.
But without a national law allowing collection of sales data or the tax, it is easier than normal for people to cheat on the tax.
Imagine if you didn't have withholding of your income tax, and your employer was not required to tell the government that you were employed. In other words, imagine that the only way the government knew how much you made was if you TOLD them.
In that environment, a lot of people would cheat on their income taxes, even more than apparently a lot of people cheat now.
It's like rioters and looters. We think crime is something done by an uncivil minority. Then as soon as a circumstance exists where people think they can get away with it, we see rich people in fancy cars driving up and looting stores. We see masses of people vandalizing things. We see that our nature is NOT one of civility and lawfulness anymore.
It amazes me how many people who call themselves conservatives are proud of cheating on their taxes, when it comes to the sales tax.
I always tell them, if they are that proud, they should go all the way. Most every state allows exemptions to the sales tax. For example, all you need to do is forge a religious exemption letter, and present it when you purchase things, and the store will subtract the sales tax.
So, why doesn't everybody do this? I used to think because people aren't cheaters. Now I think it's just because they didn't know they could get away with it.
BTW, I pay my sales tax every year on my Amazon purchases. I think taxes are too high, but I don't think that gives me the right to pay less of them than the guy living next door who buys his stuff at the local shop, or the guy across the street who buys his stuff online from Barnes and Noble and Target instead of Amazon.
In other words, it just isn't in my nature to make my purchasing decisions based on how easy it will be to break the law. I sign my tax form, and on that form it says that my signature indicates that I have reported all the information I understand to be applicable, and that includes a line on the form for my "use tax".
I can't imagine signing a fraudulent return. But too many people can.
I don't know who conducted that poll or what the demographics were of their sample but I suspect it was a very carefully selected group.
No-one, and I mean absolutely not one single person I have asked about online sales tax is for it. Seems strange to me that my unofficial polling could be so strongly aligned to just the opposite.
Government is already too big, too bloated. I am 100% against anything that gives them more money, more power.
I need to move my business offshore...and tell the US to stick it!!
I agree, but it should not piggyback on any bill. What's next: the "Equalization of Opportunity Act" and the "Anti Dog-Eat-Dog Act"?
With a tax comes control.
Genesis 6:
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
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