Guest Posted May 14, 2003 Posted May 14, 2003 Hi everyone, Have anyone heard about this? The next time you order a sweater from a catalog business in Maine, or a computer online from South Dakota, you might see a little extra surprise on the bill: sales taxes! That?s because state governments want to force businesses nationwide to start collecting sales taxes for them, even if that business has no presence in their state! So, if a small business operating only in, say, Virginia and sells some widgets to someone in Florida, that small business will have to collect and report Florida sales taxes. Wouldn't that be a difficult task of tracking all of these taxes even tougher for small, upstart companies like mine? What ya'll think, Should the Internet be Taxable for all States?
Guest Posted May 14, 2003 Posted May 14, 2003 Technically by law, either you are supposed to charge sales taxes for all purchases in all states or notify the customer that they need to pay "use taxes" on the sale amount to their state of residence. "Use Taxes" are usually equivalent to the state's sales tax. However, these laws have been long overlooked. In the days of declining government budgets and the push for taxcuts, states need to look for alternative forms of revenue or enforce the revenue channels already in place by law.
Guest Posted May 14, 2003 Posted May 14, 2003 Ha! I see It just didn't make alot of sense to me because if you think about it one of the reasons why people here in the State do shop online expecially (buy goods in other states rather than theirs) is because they dont have to pay sales tax which basically empowers the way online shopping is done here in the US. Major big companies like Dell, Gateway, Compaq do most their revenue online so are most self employed people including myself who depends on our customers weather they live in my state or not. Because if someone was to go online to buy a product for maybe $1000 and pay sales tax and have maybe the total good be $1250 depending on their state, wouldn't that person be better off drive himself to the nearest local store and purchase the same item there at the same price? ( Or almost) For me i think doing so will be pointless to buy online and on top of that there is SHIPPING...
Guest Posted May 14, 2003 Posted May 14, 2003 Personally, I do a lot of shopping online. The location of the store and whether I have to pay sales tax has never been a consideration. Personally, shipping is a higher concern for me. I purchase all my computer equipment at www.pcclub.com and pick it up at the local store which is a couple miles away. If I purchase something at bestbuy.com, then I have it shipped to the local store for pickup because I don't have to pay shipping that way. One example is brake parts for my car that I just ordered. The total of the sale at www.partsamerica.com came to roughly 171.00. The overnight shipping came to $182.00. However if I had it shipped to the local Kragen Autoparts that they partner with, I still get it the next day and don't have to pay shipping. So while I had to pay $14.19 in sales tax immediately, I saved $167.81 on shipping and had the parts in 24 hours so my car was driveable. People buy things because of perceived value. It doesn't matter whether they shop online or offline, if they feel they are getting their money's worth with shipping, handling, taxes and all other incidental costs included, they will buy your products. The trick is imparting that value to them when they can't "feel" the quality of your products.
spin Posted May 14, 2003 Posted May 14, 2003 ... one of the reasons why people here in the State do shop online expecially (buy goods in other states rather than theirs) is because they dont have to pay sales tax which basically empowers the way online shopping is done here in the US. Internet Taxation is Double Taxation. There exists, in every state within the US, a "use tax" as stated in an earlier thread. Some states may call this tax a "consumption tax." Regardless, every state has existing tax laws that require the citizen, not the merchant, to report the purchase of items that would otherwise be taxable, but are purchased without paying a state sales tax because that item was most likely purchased from out-of-state. The use tax (aka consumption tax) needs to be paid in some states immediately, whereas in other states the tax is filed with, and paid with, the individuals state income tax return. Can you imagine the burden on merchants if there were a Federal law mandating the collection of state and local/county option taxes for every purchase that you send to another state? Can you imagine the paperwork involved in reporting these taxes, and paying these taxes, to FIFTY different bureaucracies. Please. There are existing laws in place within every state that require citizens to report and pay the taxes for every quilifiable purchase for which state sales tax was not paid at the time of purchase. Whether or not people choose to pay this tax, is not the merchant's responsibility. Each year when I fill out my state personal income tax return, I am asked if I owe a use tax on items I purchased from out of state. I report, faithfully, and pay, religiously, the amount due. I strongly suspect that most citizens do not. Here we are, once again coming down to the two opposing views of taxation and economic stimulation. I will not go into my SPIN-isms on these issues. 8) "Libertas Inaestimabilis Res Est" Regard, Daniel DTOM - mmm' k
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