I think it's all nuts that people are arguing how best to implement a messy sales tax and not trying to work out how to cut expenses by $300 million per year.

I think it's all nuts that people are arguing how best to implement a messy sales tax and not trying to work out how to cut expenses by $300 million per year. I bet any decent entrepreneur could find $300 million savings per year in the California state budget. In Australia there was a big push by a coalition of major retailers to force international internet sales to be taxed at the National Goods and Services Tax, which is 10% - or to exempt them from sales taxes for items under $1000. This backfired as everyone laughed at them, pointing out most people purchased on the internet for savings of 50% or more, and then asked how they were going to track every shipment into the country and collect tax on it. As a double insult, the major retailers actually paid for a campaign to advertise that people can make big savings shopping at their online competitors. You couldn't make this stuff up. The only law that I think should change in California with relation to sales tax is that it should be illegal to advertise a price without sales tax included - in other words, all advertised prices should be inclusive of sales tax. It's a nightmare trying to work out how much something is when you have to know the tax laws yourself.