Internet Sales Tax

[Destroyer]

The pigs in Washington DC are at it again... looking for ways to pay for the massive debt they have saddled every (tax paying) American with. N0w they are trying to ram through an internet sales tax. If you haven't contacted your rep to voice your displeasure, do so NOW!! This thing is on a fast track so there's not much time. They're hoping to get this done before the public realizes what's going on.

[chumbucket]

It's never going to come to cutting spending. Only ways to generate more revenue. They think us tax payers have a limitless supply to keep giving more and more. They all act like CEO's of corporations and we work for them. Guess what folks, they work for US!!!! Until people start voting them out of office they will continue to tax us in new ways.

[RidgeRunner]

I agree with you, govt. spending is out of control.
BUT
Sales tax on interweb sales is due to the state, not the Feds.
So the Feds have their house in order and are going forward with this groundbreaking legislation? IMHO another cluster..
Just because a sale was made via the internet should not relieve the interested parties from their sales tax. AND I don't think it ever has. It is simply too difficult to enforce so the masses have said, "No Bueno" Brick and mortar stores selling to people walking thru a door or via the WWW, I don't see the difference. Only dispute is what state to send the tax to, the buyers or the sellers. I can see some instances of double the tax if your the seller being audited after your customer voluntarily paid the sales tax in another state.
Florida had a month of sales tax amnesty last year. It was their attempt to get businesses within the State to ante-up for products purchased without sales tax. ("Amnesty" for those wondering, is the state forgiving the penalty on the tax being late..)
"Every transaction" requires sales tax according to the Florida Dept. of Revenue. Like every time a car is sold, which could be a bunch of times, sales tax is paid.. I disagree with it all, I mean I don't like it. We sell lumber at a small margin, the state gets 7% of everything we sell and we often have to send off the sales tax before we have even collected the money from the customer. Then the way they force you to do it all online and the state swipes the money directly from your account. Nazi-MF ers.

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by RidgeRunner

I agree with you, govt. spending is out of control.
BUT
Sales tax on interweb sales is due to the state, not the Feds.
So the Feds have their house in order and are going forward with this groundbreaking legislation? IMHO another cluster..
Just because a sale was made via the internet should not relieve the interested parties from their sales tax. .

Well, yes and no.

What is happening here is that right now sales tax on internet sales is ONLY due if the buyer lives in the same state as the seller. This new law would make it so that someone living in a different state would still have to pay the sales tax of the sellers state.

When the internet came into being, congress passed a law that made sales tax on the internet illegal except for the way I've just outlined. But the big brick and mortar stores are now spending massive amounts of money thru their PACS trying to get Congress to change the law. The reason is simple. Increased profits through less competition. They want to force small internet start up companies out of business. By having to track, collect and pay to the states sales taxes it will put a huge amount of strain on a small mom and pop store selling out of their living room. Plus, think about it. It will FORCE people to work for FREE for the government. They don't get paid for the amount of time or effort they need to spend in order to do the paperwork to tax, collect and send the taxes in. Big brick and mortar stores could care less, they already have to do that anyway, so it's an easy way to drive out the competition. This whole campaign is being funded by the large brick and mortar stores. But the result will be the same for ALL of us. It WILL COST MORE to buy something on the internet. Cheaper prices will become a thing of the past, and THAT is why we must fight this.

[RidgeRunner]

I don't know what law Congress passed outlining the sales tax structure in your state?? You can check me but I believe the collection of Interstate taxes is prohibited by the constitution. However, most states have a Use Tax. The Use Tax is applicable for anything purchased online or otherwise from out of State where sales taxes were not collected from the purchaser at the time of purchase.
Florida Dept of Revenue does give a break for the time it takes to fill out the sales tax paperwork. (half of a percent or something) So even though it is a bit more work, the workers would be working as indentured servants, not as a slave of the govt.
As much as I hate to say it, anyone who owns and operates a business in their livingroom needs to be paying their way too, even if the money just goes to the state and not directly on the National Debt.. Isn't it enough that small mom and pop companies operating out of their living room have no overhead, liability, employees to pay, reemployment tax, workers comp, health insurance, nor do they have to deal with the complex myriad of governmental agencies crawling up their backside.
If you have ever run a brick and mortar type business legitimately, you know good and well why the brick and mortar stores are trying to get all businesses to pay their share. Something to keep the auditors busy and off your back if nothing else..
Your internet price will go up a little, but if you continue to buy it from the internet it will still be cheaper.

[RidgeRunner]

Destroyer-"By having to track, collect and pay to the states sales taxes it will put a huge amount of strain on a small mom and pop store selling out of their living room."

Intrastate commerce, (selling products in your own state) requires the collection of sales tax. Same people, same paperwork, if they aren't already paying sales tax they are breaking the law.

The sales tax is arguably the "Fairest" tax we have.