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This article is well written but it’s really more about sales tax being a regressive tax that hits lower income people worse than high income people, and is usi

This article is well written but it’s really more about sales tax being a regressive tax that hits lower income people worse than high income people, and is using the Apple example for name dropping clickbait since they sell within California and the tax code is very skewed for such large cases and their resident municipalities. It’s in no way an Apple thing but is instead a flawed California taxation thing.

ghiculescu 4y ago
Yeah it seems like this would be an issue no matter which city Apple chose.
dragonwriter 4y ago
> This article is well written but it’s really more about sales tax being a regressive tax that hits lower income people worse than high income people No, while it mentions that issue, its mostly about the race-to-the-bottom opportunity for large corporations created by the ability of corporations to choose to assign the location of sale unrelated to where it actually occurred in any meaningful sense, and to leverage that to get kickbacks from local government > and is using the Apple example for name dropping clickbait since they sell within California and the tax code is very skewed for such large cases and their resident municipalities. No, its using the Apple deal as an example because it is by far the largest example of the issue it is highlighting.
- jjtheblunt 4y ago
  That’s what i said, but better emphasis on the weird taxation rule allowing choice of point of online sale.
- matthewfcarlson 4y ago
  I don't know about the largest example. Dell kicks back $30 million a year to the city of Round Rock in sales taxes (https://roundrockchamber.org/city-of-round-rock-prepares-as-comptroller-menaces-their-dell-deal/ https://roundrockchamber.org/city-of-round-rock-prepares-as-...). As someone who lives near there, I appreciate the city being well-funded but it does strike me as somewhat unfair and sort of wonder if the Washington approach makes more sense (though it's a headache to implement).
  - dragonwriter 4y ago
    > Dell kicks back $30 million a year to the city of Round Rock in sales taxes Cupertino is expected to lose $30 million net revenue per year (not counting the 35% of the apple sales taxes that it kicks back to Apple) as a result of this deal being disallowed going forward.
- dragonwriter 4y ago
  Note that, though, the only reason this issue made the news is that corporations are not actually free to assign locations to transactions without restriction, its just that the California sales and use tax system (like many other tax systems) accepts filings as true until and unless something raises a question (or a random audit occurs), and then audits, and then issues findings, and it has audited here and found that the rules were broken.
dimitrios1 4y ago
Don't most municipalities charge lower / no-sales tax on essentials such as groceries, and higher sales tax on retail, alcohol sales, and restaurants, presumably things lower income people wouldn't be spending much on anyways? I know my state does not charge sales tax on groceries, and limits local municipalities to a maximum of 2%, but I admittedly don't know what the norm is in most states.

ghiculescu 4y ago

Yeah it seems like this would be an issue no matter which city Apple chose.

dragonwriter 4y ago

> This article is well written but it’s really more about sales tax being a regressive tax that hits lower income people worse than high income people No, while it mentions that issue, its mostly about the race-to-the-bottom opportunity for large corporations created by the ability of corporations to choose to assign the location of sale unrelated to where it actually occurred in any meaningful sense, and to leverage that to get kickbacks from local government > and is using the Apple example for name dropping clickbait since they sell within California and the tax code is very skewed for such large cases and their resident municipalities. No, its using the Apple deal as an example because it is by far the largest example of the issue it is highlighting.

jjtheblunt 4y ago
That’s what i said, but better emphasis on the weird taxation rule allowing choice of point of online sale.
matthewfcarlson 4y ago
I don't know about the largest example. Dell kicks back $30 million a year to the city of Round Rock in sales taxes (https://roundrockchamber.org/city-of-round-rock-prepares-as-comptroller-menaces-their-dell-deal/ https://roundrockchamber.org/city-of-round-rock-prepares-as-...). As someone who lives near there, I appreciate the city being well-funded but it does strike me as somewhat unfair and sort of wonder if the Washington approach makes more sense (though it's a headache to implement).
- dragonwriter 4y ago
  > Dell kicks back $30 million a year to the city of Round Rock in sales taxes Cupertino is expected to lose $30 million net revenue per year (not counting the 35% of the apple sales taxes that it kicks back to Apple) as a result of this deal being disallowed going forward.
dragonwriter 4y ago
Note that, though, the only reason this issue made the news is that corporations are not actually free to assign locations to transactions without restriction, its just that the California sales and use tax system (like many other tax systems) accepts filings as true until and unless something raises a question (or a random audit occurs), and then audits, and then issues findings, and it has audited here and found that the rules were broken.

dimitrios1 4y ago

Don't most municipalities charge lower / no-sales tax on essentials such as groceries, and higher sales tax on retail, alcohol sales, and restaurants, presumably things lower income people wouldn't be spending much on anyways? I know my state does not charge sales tax on groceries, and limits local municipalities to a maximum of 2%, but I admittedly don't know what the norm is in most states.