Supreme Court hears case on online sales tax

CBS "News" ^ | April 16, 2018

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Sales Tax: $0.

Online shoppers have gotten used to seeing that line on checkout screens before they click "purchase." But a case before the Supreme Court could change that.

At issue is a rule stemming from two, decades-old Supreme Court cases: If a business is shipping to a state where it doesn't have an office, warehouse or other physical presence, it doesn't have to collect the state's sales tax.

That means large retailers such as Apple, Macy's, Target and Walmart, which have brick-and-mortar stores nationwide, generally collect sales tax from customers who buy from them online. But other online sellers, from 1-800 Contacts to home goods site Wayfair, can often sidestep charging the tax.

The case now before the Supreme Court involves South Dakota, which has no income tax and relies heavily on sales tax for revenue. South Dakota's governor has said the state loses out on an estimated $50 million a year in sales tax that doesn't get collected by out-of-state sellers.

[Tallguy]

South Dakota should do what Pennsylvania does... send around a postcard sized “Sales & Use Tax Return”. Basically Pennsylvania expects yo to pay a “Use Tax” on any purchased items for which no sales tax was collected. Its aimed mostly at small businesses, but the rates and exemptions list are the same for both.

Of course many people chuck that return right in the old circular file.

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Property taxes go up constantly already. A new revenue stream doesn’t offset anything, gov spending just expands to fill it. They always, always find new things to spend your money.

[TexasGator]

You said every business that sells to you.

[fluffy]

You seem to keep coming back to Amazon, but in case you haven’t been paying attention, Amazon/Bezos is pushing hard for this. They already collect sales tax, and they want all of their competitors to have to do it to. All this will do is strengthen Amazon’s position in the market as it drives smaller stores out of business. Online sales tax won’t affect Amazon negatively at all.

[shelterguy]

Do you support Amazon/Bezos/Washington Post?

I don’t.

[Beagle8U]

Build a liberal a fire and he will be warm for a day, set him on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life!

[fluffy]

Yes you do, if you support across-the-board internet sales taxes.

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

No, but I’m sure I patronize equally leftwing, albeit less influential, businesses. There are only so many sources available for things I need. Frequently I have to go online to order small parts, some people (not me of course) might have to go online to buy ammo in obscure/obsolete calibers, etc. If a local business can order a bigger ticket item for me I often take that option, but often it’s easier and cheaper to overnight a small item that I need rather than go through the trouble of sourcing it locally.

Rather than that resulting in me having to pay yet more taxes, I think government should make do with the billions and billions they already squander.

[Ouderkirk]

I think that PayPal will collect the sales tax, and py it on your behalf.

IF the buyer picks it up, not sure how that plays...wonder if the State Tax & Finance will kick your door down with M4’s drawn, shoot your dog and take you out in cuffs.

[rktman]

Not everywhere.

[Nifster]

That exporting state tax is considered an excise tax. The question if sales tax is what is currently before the court

[USS Alaska]

Good for higher taxes?

No, good for equality for all vendors.

When you buy an object at a local brick and mortar store and pay $6 sales tax but can get the same object via internet without the $6, where would almost anyone buy? I know I take advantage of the laws that save me money but it is not a level field for the local business.

Tax the product the same, don't screw the local business folks.

[CurlyDave]

... If you send an item from your state to someone in another state you don’t have a relationship with the latter state so collecting sales tax on their behalf would be kinda dumb...

But you do have a relationship with that state -- you have a customer who lives there.

And, the tax is on the customer, not on the business.

[robroys woman]

But you do have a relationship with that state — you have a customer who lives there.

---

That is not a relationship with the state. It is a private relationship. The state does not know who I am conversing with outside the state. An a package is private. Now, if a company within the state sells me something, even if it is a mail order or internet sale, it is reported to the state as income because the retailer is in the state.

And as you said, the tax is on the customer, not the business. Therefore the customer is responsible to pay the tax on a sale from a business outside the state since he is the only one in the state. We get Market Spice tea from Seattle delivered to our home in central KY. Market spice charges us for it and sends us the product. If we are taxed in our state, it’s up to us to pay any taxes. It is not up to market spice (a very small company) to be privy to every local tax within the entire united states. It would be draconian to require such a thing. It is also something only “big business” could hope to adhere to.

i.e. This would REQUIRE companies like market spice to do business through companies like Amazon. Come to think of it, maybe that is why this push is on.

[Seven_0]

It dosen’t matter what kind of tax. The governments, trying to get around the restriction on taxing exports between states is the cause of the convoluted tax solutions. Take away the restriction and the issue is moot.

[MeganC]

“Good. Even the playing field. Tax everyone equally.”

I see you’re lost. Allow me to direct you to a place that supports that kind of crap:

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

The items I buy online are NOT available locally. I live in small town Maine and the items I need or want can not be purchased locally.

The items I purchase online charge me shipping but not sales tax.

The items I purchase locally, if they are available....I pay sales tax but not shipping.

Already level.

[NutsOnYew]

For a while, I was buying cigarettes on line for personal use. Without the state tax, they were significantly cheaper. Then one day, I received a letter/invoice from the state telling me they knew I was buying cigs on-line and that I owed them $X amount in state taxes. I guess the folks selling the cigs turned me in. So, I paid the state and the on-line company lost my business because there was no longer a benefit to using it.

[Agamemnon]

I’ve been in business for 40 years. I have heard the ridiculous lie that no business pays taxes because they just pass it on to the consumer a million times.

I've been in business for 22 years and I don't eat my customers' sales tax payments. And if you've actually been in business for 40 years as you say, I suspect that you don't either.

If you so called “conservatives” want to support Amazon/Bezos then you go for it.

I am saying nothing different than Reagan ever said 40 years ago, and if you've really been in business for 40 years and really call yourself a "conservative," you should have known that.

As quoted by Donald Trump himself:

"Businesses don't pay taxes; it's all passed on to customers"

"Here's how President Reagan explained the corrosive influence of corporate taxes on the average American:

"Some say shift the tax burden to business and industry, but business doesn't pay taxes. Oh, don't get the wrong idea. Business is being taxed, so much so that we're being priced out of the world market. But business must pass its costs of operations--and that includes taxes--on to the customer in the price of the product. Only people pay taxes, all the taxes. Government just uses businesses in a kind of sneaky way to help collect the taxes. They're hidden in the price; we aren't aware of how much tax we actually pay."

"Reagan was right. If Americans understood just how many hidden government fees and taxes are absorbed into the price of the goods and services they buy, they would be irate."

Source: Time to Get Tough, by Donald Trump, p. 57 , Dec 5, 2011

Or maybe you think neither Trump nor Reagan are/were conservatives and both went around spreading lies.

40 years in business, you say? Yeah, right.

Not buying your line.

FReegards!

[bigdaddy45]

Wrong

http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/29/technology/amazon-sales-tax/index.html