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the thing is, the tax is already being levied. And it's generally considered a tax on the customer doing the buying (who does live within that state) If the
by lsc 15y ago
the thing is, the tax is already being levied. And it's generally considered a tax on the customer doing the buying (who does live within that state) If the merchant is also within that state, the merchant is expected to collect the tax. If the merchant is out of state, the consumer is supposed to keep track of and pay 'use tax'
The argument here is not over if the tax should be paid or not, or even over who should pay the tax. the argument is over who should collect the tax; the states want the retailers to collect because that's likely to lead to increased compliance, and the retailers want the state to collect, 'cause that makes out of state goods look cheaper to people who plan to not report their use tax.
- iwwr 15y agoMoreover, Amazon is trying to avoid a circumstance where every state and county has different and potentially complex sales tax laws. Say, County X could have 100 different little tax levels depending on the type of product, time of day, phase of the moon etc. As is clear from the Amazon statement, they are not against sales taxes in principle and would agree to pay one if it were uniform (i.e. hassle-free).
- qeorge 15y agoAs is clear from the Amazon statement, they are not against sales taxes in principle and would agree to pay one if it were uniform As lsc pointed out above, that's not the case at all. Amazon is refusing to collect taxes on behalf of its customers, not refusing to pay its own taxes. By law, citizens are supposed to tally up what they bought from internet retailers over the course of the year and pay any remaining sales tax on April 15th. Shockingly, this isn't happening, and the sales taxes aren't being paid at all. So these states want Amazon to behave like a bricks and mortar retailer, and collect the tax at time of sale instead. Amazon doesn't want to collect sales tax because not doing so makes their prices look lower than competitors like Barnes and Noble, which does collect sales tax. Nothing more, nothing less.
- mkr-hn 15y agoWal-Mart wanted $30 for a 10 foot USB cable. I got the same cable down the road for $10 at Radio Shack. Wal-Mart should be cheaper due to larger bulk discounts and their famed logistics. A $20 difference can't be accounted for with a 6% sales tax. And it was still cheaper than online once I added shipping.
- iwwr 15y agoFor its part, Amazon supports the Streamlined Sales Tax project, which aims to harmonize and clarify states sales tax laws across the country. and “The sales tax collection is very complicated. The right place to fix this is with federal legislation.”
- patrickgzill 15y agoThe law concerning use tax is un-Constitutional, that is the issue; and something that most people who do not file the use tax portion, are well aware of. edit: what part of "No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State." is unclear?
- esrauch 15y agoIt is unconstitutional for a state to force a corporation out of state to collect sales tax, but it is certainly not unconstitutional to tax individuals in your state based on almost any concievable action the individual chooses to do.
- jevinskie 15y agoDoesn't that only prevent the federal government from levying that tax?
- stonemetal 15y agoActually it is the opposite it prevents states from monkeying with interstate trade and reserves that right for the federal government.
- mtomczak 15y ago
- esrauch 15y agoConsidering they already handle all of the import duties and VAT for god knows how many countries, and a lot of those are product specific while sales tax almost never is, it seems likely this is just talk because they know there's no way a unform federal sales tax is ever going to replace state taxes.
- lsc 15y agoyes, this is a big pain in the ass... for me. but it's a pain in the ass that I could handle. Amazon could hire 10 people who are all better than I am to work on this problem full time without causing themselves much by way of pain. This is why I think it's about them wanting their goods to look cheaper rather than about any actual pain. If it was about the actual pain, they'd support the idea of different sales tax for every little hamlet because it raises the barrier to entry for people like me, e.g. selling my widgets myself rather than going through amazon.