3 ms·

> computing the sales tax is easy Sure, it's almost as easy as time zones!

by sk5t 9y ago

ghaff 9y ago
Creating the database and maintaining it is obviously hard work. But, once it exists, doing a lookup can be straightforward just as it is with time zones.
- gist 9y ago
  This assumes though that that database can be integrated into the existing software and workflow. That is not trivial to do and can break things easily with proprietary or custom systems. And not all goods or services (that are in theory taxable) are even 'shipped' to a zipcode.
  - ghaff 9y ago
    That's fair and I shouldn't have used the term "easy" before. That said, a lot of companies who sell online and have a widespread physical presence obviously manage to do it. Of course, that's a lot different from a small business doing it.
    - nitrogen 9y ago
      Those large businesses often still get it wrong and get audited.
- coreyp_1 9y ago
  I'm sorry, but no. Here is a pencil. Is it taxed in both A and B? Now, here's another pencil, but it was made from recycled wood. Is it also taxed the same way in both A and B? What about C, which is another one of the USA's 6000+ tax jurisdictions? Wait... did that state just declare a tax-free weekend for school supplies (Texas does), so should that item no longer be taxed for Texas residents? Does the tax free weekend apply to both types of pencils? Wait... A city in California just decided that pencils are dangerous if kids run with them, so they impose an extra sales tax to discourage unsafe writing practices. How are you expected to know about this local rule if you live several states away? Normally, rules of nexus would exempt you... unless you are using affiliates to help you sell pencils. Affiliates can trigger nexus. How can you know the local tax rules for every affiliate that signs up? And, sorry... if you think timezones are simple, then you are way off base. If it is easy, then it is because so many people have dedicated their resources to provide the tools to make it easy. (https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/events.html https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/events.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tz_database https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tz_database) Sales tax is much, much more complex (9 time zones in the USA vs 6,000+ tax jurisdictions in the USA).
  - wtfstatists 9y ago
    1. Make product categories consistent across all tax jdxs. 2. Every tax jdx will maintain online db of 'REGION|PRODUCT|TAXRATE'. Sellers need to fetch periodically (say 1hr). Also note, REGION is defined by gps points. Problem Solved. I hate to say it as ancap but this is not a problem a little standardization cant fix.

> computing the sales tax is easy Sure, it's almost as easy as time zones!

by sk5t 9y ago

> computing the sales tax is easy Sure, it's almost as easy as time zones!

Creating the database and maintaining it is obviously hard work. But, once it exists, doing a lookup can be straightforward just as it is with time zones.

gist 9y ago
This assumes though that that database can be integrated into the existing software and workflow. That is not trivial to do and can break things easily with proprietary or custom systems. And not all goods or services (that are in theory taxable) are even 'shipped' to a zipcode.
- ghaff 9y ago
  That's fair and I shouldn't have used the term "easy" before. That said, a lot of companies who sell online and have a widespread physical presence obviously manage to do it. Of course, that's a lot different from a small business doing it.
  - nitrogen 9y ago
    Those large businesses often still get it wrong and get audited.
coreyp_1 9y ago
I'm sorry, but no. Here is a pencil. Is it taxed in both A and B? Now, here's another pencil, but it was made from recycled wood. Is it also taxed the same way in both A and B? What about C, which is another one of the USA's 6000+ tax jurisdictions? Wait... did that state just declare a tax-free weekend for school supplies (Texas does), so should that item no longer be taxed for Texas residents? Does the tax free weekend apply to both types of pencils? Wait... A city in California just decided that pencils are dangerous if kids run with them, so they impose an extra sales tax to discourage unsafe writing practices. How are you expected to know about this local rule if you live several states away? Normally, rules of nexus would exempt you... unless you are using affiliates to help you sell pencils. Affiliates can trigger nexus. How can you know the local tax rules for every affiliate that signs up? And, sorry... if you think timezones are simple, then you are way off base. If it is easy, then it is because so many people have dedicated their resources to provide the tools to make it easy. (https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/events.html https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/events.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tz_database https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tz_database) Sales tax is much, much more complex (9 time zones in the USA vs 6,000+ tax jurisdictions in the USA).
- wtfstatists 9y ago
  1. Make product categories consistent across all tax jdxs. 2. Every tax jdx will maintain online db of 'REGION|PRODUCT|TAXRATE'. Sellers need to fetch periodically (say 1hr). Also note, REGION is defined by gps points. Problem Solved. I hate to say it as ancap but this is not a problem a little standardization cant fix.