I am at ease with the current system. Sales tax is low and the volume at the flea market is low enough for the tax collectors to ignore. Under an NRST, my understanding from this discussion is that the tax authorities will require wholesale purchases to be tracked. For example my sock vendor will be identified when he purchases the socks in L.A. and has them shipped here.
If the tax goes up, he will have an incentive to sell untaxed socks to me at a private sale. He might say he lost the sock shipment, he might have the socks made locally in a cottage, he might smuggle them through our busy ports. In any case the government will have a larger incentive to track all shipments of all merchandise at the wholesale level.
What could decrease my ability to purchase anonymously is the tracking technology and the "legitimizing" of vendors. I could easily foresee a day when the flea market is either shut down or patrolled with agents looking for "new" merchandise.
Under an NRST, my understanding from this discussion is that the tax authorities will require wholesale purchases to be tracked.
Where do you get that from? Only sales that are taxed are retail. If you don't have a business certification when purchasing goods, you pay NRST on the item at the price it is sold to you. The business selling the item to you is responsible for remitting the tax to the state tax authority.
Wholesale is nothing more than a marketer's term, if one sells something, not previously taxed, to a person who has no business certification, the tax is to be collected and receipt issued.
The rule of the NRST is tax once but only once. If it is at a "whosale" price lucky you, the wholesale ronly answers to his suppliers for that issue.
I could easily foresee a day when the flea market is either shut down or patrolled with agents looking for "new" merchandise.
Many states randomly check flea markets now, hasn't shut them down yet. If an item sold is obviously worn or damaged, no prima-facia case of not requiring NRST. If it is packaged and sold as "new" in business volume, It would certainly behove one to be able to show purchase receipts with taxed paid.
You expect a free ride or something? You violate a law, you takes your chances.
I could easily foresee a day when the flea market is either shut down or patrolled with agents looking for "new" merchandise.
That could happen. But, let;s look at the worst case scenario.
That's worst case.
Then consider that although there are some moderately priced items occasionally sold at flea markets, the vast majority of flea market sales are low dollar items. As a result, the total dollar value of all flea market sales in the US is insignificant. One WalMart store probably generates more in taxable sales on a Saturday than 10 giant flea markets. Then consider that WalMart usually has several stores open 7 days a week in the same area. Add to that, K-Mart, Sears, JC Penny, etc. and you will see that enforcement in this very tiny segment of the economy will probably only be very sparse, where it exists at all. It just doesn't make sense to concentrate enforcement where there is so little financial gain potential. The additional tax collected would probably not pay the salary of the people required to process the few offenses that might be written up. The IRS uses the same logic uses when they concentrate 80% of their enforcement effort on the top 5% of income earners. I think you are swatting at gnats.
But, the important thing to remember is that enforcement will be a state issue. No more massive, unwarranted confiscation of private property by the IRS, where the burden of proof is on the individual or company. At least, at the state level, you can fight it.