4 ms·
These are the warning shots. As commerce increasingly goes to the web, hungry states will be tapping more companies for a piece of the action.
by DevX101 16y ago
These are the warning shots. As commerce increasingly goes to the web, hungry states will be tapping more companies for a piece of the action.
- potatolicious 16y agoI can't help but be sympathetic to local businesses though - lack of sales tax probably pushes a lot of their former customers towards online shopping; and to be fair, it is an unfair playing field (after all, the brick and mortars can't very well stop charging sales tax). I for one order all of my expensive hardware from out of state...
- kiba 16y agoWell, there's the shipping rate that people have to pay.
- jedberg 16y agoAnd technically you are committing a crime. It is your responsibility to report use tax to your state for things you buy from out of state.
- netcan 16y agoI'm not from the US so I don't really understand the details. What this always sounds like to me is that ecommerce broke the American sales tax system. Transferring responsibility to individuals is obviously a nonexistent solution to loose ends that never got tied up because they represented such a small portion of sales. I really don't understand how this will get fixed again without nationalizing sales tax.
- Tangurena 16y agoHistorically, mail-order purchases were exempted from sales tax - unless the seller had a presence in the state. Before there was the internet, before there was telephone, some retail companies got their start shipping catalogs to rural people. The people would order items via mail, and the items would be shipped via train or mail. Two of the biggest mail order retailers were Sears and Montgomery Ward. To make sure that customers reached for the Sears catalog first, they made theirs slightly smaller (about 1 cm smaller in width and height) so that the folks in the house would stack the smaller catalog (Sears) on top of the larger one (MW). Those old catalogs had everything: clothes, furniture, tools and even house kits. The 1897 one even had opium: http://www.amazon.com/1897-Sears-Roebuck-Catalogue-Israel/dp/0791046265 http://www.amazon.com/1897-Sears-Roebuck-Catalogue-Israel/dp...
- schwit 16y agoMost would prefer to buy locally if prices are competitive. They don't mind paying reasonable taxes. But when the price of things on Amazon are significantly less ...
- njharman 16y agoum, no. click on computer. thing arrives at my door. vs get in car, drive in traffic, deal with idiot shoppers, salesoids etc.