Posted on 04/22/2013 4:31:12 AM PDT by IbJensen
Why are states so eager to collect taxes on Internet sales?
In short, because they could grab money from other states.
Heritage legal expert David Addington lays it out:
Like the money-hungry federal government, many state governments have financial and political interests in getting their hands on more and more money to grow their governments. It is not surprising that many of those state governments find out-of-state businesses to be lucrative and politically easy targets for tax legislation.
Addington explains how this would work. Take, for example, a company whose workforce and warehouses are in New Hampshire. This company has no contacts with Illinois other than taking remote sales orders over the Internet.
The Internet sales tax proposal would allow Illinois politicians to use the New Hampshire company as their tax collector. The New Hampshire company would have to collect Illinois sales tax on its remote sales to Illinois residents and send the taxes to the Illinois state government.
As The Wall Street Journal puts it, “Small online sellers will therefore have to comply with tax laws created by distant governments in which they have no representation, and in places where they consume no local services.”
Who’s hurt? •Consumers nationwide could be hit with higher prices. •Internet companies, which would be forced to collect taxes for thousands of jurisdictions.
Who’s helped? •State politicians, who find it politically easy to impose tax collection duties on out-of-state businesses that have no say on taxes or tax procedures in that state. •States collecting new tax revenue to grow their governments.
The Senate is likely voting today on this proposal. As Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) put it, “what this is about is officials in cash-strapped states across the country looking for new ways to plug their budget holes.”
And because Congress would be allowing states to grab from other states, Addington notes that “all the politicians get to hide from the consequences of their own tax decisions.”
The bottom line: “Less money in the pockets of people, more money for big government.”
Increasing its sources of revenue is ridiculous. Back in the days when there was a surplus the imbeciles in Congress and in the states lucky enough to have one spent it and borrowed more to spend on enlarging their bureaucratic domains.
If the argument is to 'level the playing field'(how I despise that politician's phrase) then abolish the sales taxes! In fact we the people should demand exactly that, along with a host of other innocuous taxes that they levy and collect. The goal is simple: starve government!
Is there some bartar arrangement we can come up with, say lead for sales taxes due???
All taxes are a state money grab, but I don’t know why things bought on the internet should be treated differently.
And yes, by all means do propose eliminating ALL sales taxes. You have my support, keep me informed as to how it’s progressing.
Simple. NH can charge Illinois a $100 fee for every tax amount collected. Make Illinois also fill out a 100-page form for each tax request. Send the tax collected in Zimbabwe dollars. Make them collect the money in Chechnya.
All taxes are a state money grab, but I don’t know why things bought on the internet should be treated differently.
They aren’t treated any differently than out of state sales made by mail or phone. What this law would require would treat internet sales differently. Brick and mortar stores are not required to collect sales taxes for states other than their own.
Internet sales taxes will happen. To be honest they are already here. You are supposed to pay them on your state taxes. Most don’t.
Torn on this issue. I hate taxes, but the law is the law.
The argument goes that w/o sales tax, Internet sales have an unfair advantage over Mom and Pop small business. But that ignores the shipping that Internet sales requires.
Without taxes, how do govts pay their bills?
The law is an ass.
Giving the states more money to spend isn’t the answer. They should be denied any sales taxes. With state, local, municipal sales taxes on everything, excepting foodstuffs, these entities are just encouraged to spend more.
With swollen property taxes Americans are overburdened with tax.
I am leaning towards state’s collecting sales taxes that are due.
In Maine, you essentially make people criminals as they are the sales tax agent for purchases that end up back in Maine.
A few other points - as the sales tax collection drops in our state, the pressure on property taxes and income taxes goes up. I think that is not a good thing.
I also think there are some equity issues. Young more affluent people are avoiding the sales taxes while the elderly are still traditional brick and mortar purchasers. So we have system where the young urban dwellers buy most things online and simply don’t pay the sales tax.
I am not leaning, I am asserting that sales taxes are an onerous obstacle loaded atop an already overburdened citizen.
State and federal tax apparatuses need to be dismantled and the inherent bureaucracies sent on to gainful employment.
The more money you allow them to take from you the larger that government entity becomes.
The same reason Fast Eddie Rendell pulled out all the stops to try and slap tolls on I-80. Make people who don’t live in Pennsylvania pay the bills for the Democrat Graft Machine.
Rather like municipal taxes on hotel rooms, rental cars and a host of other disgusting picking of visitors’ pockets to prop up ever growing local governments.
Brick and mortar stores are going to be hurt worst by this bill. The one thing holding back sales tax increases is the free market found on the Internet.
Once that free market has been wiped out nothing will stop a state from increasing its sales taxes. The B&M stores that are suffering declining business are suffering it not at the hands of the Internet, but because of anti-commerce policies of their home states.
Illinois is the perfect example of a job killing, liberal run state.
This should really be in breaking news due to the impending vote and impact:
Wouldn’t we much better off if the part in ‘Mars Attacks’ where the Mars ambassador visited the assemblage of both houses were true?
I second that. We cannot let these weasels increase our taxes.
The article implies that this isn’t a tax increase because the buyers should be paying it. If they aren’t they’re already rejecting the tax and paying it will be an increase.
How dumb do they think we are?
I agree with you that it is already here. I pay my state sales tax online... I don’t understand what is going on in the Senate?
Amazon cuts Ill. ties over sales tax collection
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2687366/posts
Posted on Friday, March 11, 2011 2:30:23 PM by SmithL
my, how things change. now big bidness is in bed with gubmint again...
As they compete with big retail, Amazon is advocating for this legislation too, while at the same time they are seeking local tax exemptions across the country to build warehouses.
Typical crony crapitalism.
The bill should be named the Shop China Act of 2013 because its draconian and costly compliance burden would likely force many online companies to set up outside of America.
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