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The push to tax Amazon is so online and brick-and-mortars are treated equally in a tax sense. Yet the states that have enacted taxes on Amazon, do not collect t

The push to tax Amazon is so online and brick-and-mortars are treated equally in a tax sense. Yet the states that have enacted taxes on Amazon, do not collect taxes unanimously from all businesses selling online within their borders. It seems to me that states need to find a new method to treat all online sales equally as well, and not separate Amazon into its own tax bracket. Is each company that faces a legislature going to have to fight for its tax rate separately and work their won deals? This is ambiguous to buyers and hurts smaller businesses that don't have the legal funds or ability to negotiate.

bbq 12y ago
The problem is taxes are incredibly complicated. There are companies that do "tax as a service"[1]. Governments should pass tax laws in some sort of industry standard tax rules specification[2]. This way, companies and the open source world can write rules engines to process taxes and online stores can pick among the competitors, not having to worry about the complexities themselves. Costs are reduced, competition increased, and consumers win. [1] http://www.avalara.com/ http://www.avalara.com/ [2] this might also make taxes simpler. If legislators can't encode (compile) it, they can't legislate it!
- dangrossman 12y ago
  That's basically the Marketplace Fairness Act, which is the most likely "internet sales tax" bill to pass in the near future. http://www.marketplacefairness.org/ http://www.marketplacefairness.org/ It requires each state that wants to collect from foreign sellers to provide a uniform state-wide sales tax policy, a single organization in each state to handle registrations/filings/audits, and free tax compliance software. It also builds a mechanism to certify companies (like Avalara) to take care of internet sales tax for you, and relieves businesses of liability for mistakes if they use one of these companies to compute/file their taxes.
  - thatthatis 12y ago
    For true fairness there needs to be a single organization nationally that can collect and process the tax. 50 different filings is an unduly onerous and inefficient hurdle for setting up shop.
    - dangrossman 12y ago
      That's what the certified companies are for. This one set up that site: https://taxcloud.net/ https://taxcloud.net/ They calculate and file your returns for you. They get paid a commission directly by the states for facilitating it, so they're free to businesses.
    - walshemj 12y ago
      Unfortunetly the distrubuted nature of the political system acts aainst this its the same with emplyment having 53 diferent sets of employment laws is very ineficient. From an outsiders perspective what the USA needs is a proper reform of the constitution and remove a lot of thinkgs from the perview of the individual states. A maximum age for senators, congessmen and judges would also be a good thing.
      - bruceb 12y ago
        So you are pro age discrimination is what you are saying.
        jdminhbg 12y ago
        There is already age discrimination: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_candidacy_laws_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_candidacy_laws_in_the_Un...
        awda 12y ago
        And you can be tried as an adult at 15 or 16 years old, but you can't vote until you're 18. What kind of bullshit is that?
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
brc 12y ago
If it were up to me I'd just can the sales tax on the brick and mortar stores as well. There is always some spending you can cut somewhere.
- jasomill 12y ago
  "Some spending" is a bit of an understatement — sales taxes represent the single largest revenue source for state governments other than "transfers from the federal government"[1]. [1] http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/...
venomsnake 12y ago
>It seems to me that states need to find a new method to treat all online sales equally as well, and not separate Amazon into its own tax bracket VAT works fine once you have the infrastructure in place.

bbq 12y ago

The problem is taxes are incredibly complicated. There are companies that do "tax as a service"[1]. Governments should pass tax laws in some sort of industry standard tax rules specification[2]. This way, companies and the open source world can write rules engines to process taxes and online stores can pick among the competitors, not having to worry about the complexities themselves. Costs are reduced, competition increased, and consumers win. [1] http://www.avalara.com/ http://www.avalara.com/ [2] this might also make taxes simpler. If legislators can't encode (compile) it, they can't legislate it!

dangrossman 12y ago
That's basically the Marketplace Fairness Act, which is the most likely "internet sales tax" bill to pass in the near future. http://www.marketplacefairness.org/ http://www.marketplacefairness.org/ It requires each state that wants to collect from foreign sellers to provide a uniform state-wide sales tax policy, a single organization in each state to handle registrations/filings/audits, and free tax compliance software. It also builds a mechanism to certify companies (like Avalara) to take care of internet sales tax for you, and relieves businesses of liability for mistakes if they use one of these companies to compute/file their taxes.
- thatthatis 12y ago
  For true fairness there needs to be a single organization nationally that can collect and process the tax. 50 different filings is an unduly onerous and inefficient hurdle for setting up shop.
  - dangrossman 12y ago
    That's what the certified companies are for. This one set up that site: https://taxcloud.net/ https://taxcloud.net/ They calculate and file your returns for you. They get paid a commission directly by the states for facilitating it, so they're free to businesses.
  - walshemj 12y ago
    Unfortunetly the distrubuted nature of the political system acts aainst this its the same with emplyment having 53 diferent sets of employment laws is very ineficient. From an outsiders perspective what the USA needs is a proper reform of the constitution and remove a lot of thinkgs from the perview of the individual states. A maximum age for senators, congessmen and judges would also be a good thing.
    - bruceb 12y ago
      So you are pro age discrimination is what you are saying.
      - jdminhbg 12y ago
        There is already age discrimination: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_candidacy_laws_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_candidacy_laws_in_the_Un...
        awda 12y ago
        And you can be tried as an adult at 15 or 16 years old, but you can't vote until you're 18. What kind of bullshit is that?

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

brc 12y ago

If it were up to me I'd just can the sales tax on the brick and mortar stores as well. There is always some spending you can cut somewhere.

jasomill 12y ago
"Some spending" is a bit of an understatement — sales taxes represent the single largest revenue source for state governments other than "transfers from the federal government"[1]. [1] http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/...

venomsnake 12y ago

>It seems to me that states need to find a new method to treat all online sales equally as well, and not separate Amazon into its own tax bracket VAT works fine once you have the infrastructure in place.