Posted on 09/08/2013 5:23:42 AM PDT by Kaslin
I wonder where he was parked? It looks like a strip mall or store parking lot. Perhaps someone from a grocery or supermarket didn’t like the competition. The amount of fruit stacked in the van looks like he should have been in a farmer’s market and followed the standard practices of his location. That being said I deplore sales tax at farmers markets and craft shows. Uncle Sam needs to get out of our way not find more ways to pluck the captive chickens (us).
This post intrigues me. First, I had no idea Idaho had been taken over by progressives; it’s still considered a conservative state (so far, in voting record in national elections), yet the population permits all sorts of punitive government.
With a little research, the father could help his son figure out a loophole. If it’s permitted under the Idaho regime to “give away” property (not subject to resale taxes) then as a minor he can create a “Schedule for Delivery” of the fruit...that is, “Delivery from my box to your hand”. Or perhaps he can perform another service (dance a jig). Or ‘fee to throw a water balloon at effigy of the president for free fruit’.
The Administrative Rules for Sales & Use Tax in Idaho are 127 pages long. I see no rules that apply to ‘donation’ of food other than the fact that tax must have been paid to purchase the fruits & vegetables. Furthermore, best I can tell from the horrible search feature on IRS’ website, if a minor dependent makes less than $950 in ‘income’ there is no requirement for filing of Federal Income Tax. Without expending more time on Idaho, I presume the same applies for State Income Tax. (On the latter, I view State Income Tax MUCH less intrusive than progressive state sales tax, but concede its role in federal tax reform)
In closing, I wouldn’t be surprised that the State of Idaho has rules totally undercutting my creative bypassing of tax laws for a child’s ingenuity to earn a buck...having had the experience turned into a bitter lesson on the encroachment of government...a lesson the youngster won’t soon forget.
Correction: Section 105(06)b:
“Goods sold or produced and consumed by the retailer,
items withdrawn from stock for personal use or employee use, stock removed and used for gift or promotional
purposes, or any combination of such uses are subject to tax.”
Oh well...there’s a lesson here for Idahoans (and other States considering a State Sales Tax).
Is there a rule that if you are young enough, you get to set up a business?
Or would we be equally upset if a 20-year-old set up a shop on our street and started operating?
If the taxes and regulations are too great, and they are, we should change the law for all business operators, not get upset when someone who violates those laws gets in trouble.
There are business ventures kids can do that aren’t going to run into these problems. Selling actual food will — ask the farmer’s market where the people who GROW the food do this every week. They don’t want to have to compete against others who throw a stand on a street corner and don’t pay the fees and collect the taxes.
The question is, where did the child get the stuff he sold. If he bought it all at a market where it was already taxed, then it should not be taxed again — he is really operating a delivery service.
One other thing — they told him on the 2nd day of operation that he had to collect the sales tax.
All he needed to do at that point was start adding 6% to each purchase, and he’d have had the money to pay the taxes.
I’m on the fence on this one. It’s not like the old lemonade stand harassment. If the pic is any indication, that appears to be a pretty well stocked and sophisticated operation. I find it hard to believe a kid put that together all by himself. Maybe he did, I don’t know.
You mean we use to live in the United States?
More information — the grandfather had a farm. The child was selling Raspberries from the farm.
So essentially he was operating a fruit stand, and the state wanted him to collect sales tax, just as every farmer who sets up a fruit stand in the state has to collect the sales tax.
If the people are upset by this in Idaho, they should lobby their representatives to change the law.
MOre interestingly, the Idaho Sales Tax applies to donated items that are then sold (at their fair market value). In some states, once sales tax is paid on an item (when it is sold new at a store), they don’t collect sales tax if someone re-sells the item. But Idaho does.
I wonder if that means that a yard sale in Idaho has to collect sales tax, or if it is only if a business runs a charitable sale that it gets collected. I couldn’t find that information yet.
Wait, I found it. You can have 2 yard sales a year before you are required to get a “seller permit” and collect sales tax.
Now that is a line that I can use! Funny and with enough truth in it to sting a little!
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