Here It Comes: Online Sales Tax

[sevlex]

After that, we'll have a Financial Transaction Tax - which will mean .gov will tax it's cut every time you deposit a check in the bank or take cash out of an atm. Wait and see.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-0...s-tax-imminent

That Congress has had aspirations on collecting sales tax on online purchases, which comprise an increasingly bigger portion of all retail sales in the US, in the past is nothing new. However, following last night's passage of the Marketplace Fairness Act in the Senate with a cloture-busting 74 votes for (and 20 against), the US may be very close to finally adopting a uniform standard taxing all online transactions, regardless of physical jurisdiction or any other geographic boundaries.

As Ars Technica reported last night, "your tax-free days of online shopping are numbered. If S743, also known as the Marketplace Fairness Act, becomes law, the millions of Americans who have been able to avoid sales tax online will have to start paying it. Given the broad support shown by today's US Senate vote, some version of it is likely to come to fruition."

And since a tax is a tax is a tax, it means that the purchasing power of online shopping Americans will be uniformly reduced by some X%, depending on what the final tax structure is agreed upon, which also means that the volume of all online transactions will have to decline by a corresponding amount all else equal, in turn leading to lower overall revenues and profits for online retailers. But at least the Federal government will have more cash to waste on such high ROI generating projects as Solyndra and Fisker.

[El Jefe]

Um, but Barry said he would never tax the middle class.

[sevlex]

Well, his purple lips were moving, you know.

[El Jefe]

Well, his purple lips were moving, you know.

I'm sure Kadmos will find a way to justify this for his boy Barry.

[1 Patriot-of-many]

Think it will pass in the House?

[L1A1Rocker]

Does anyone realize that the Interstate Commerce Clause was put into the second constitution to STOP this activity?

See, under the old Articles of Confederation you had state border checkpoints set up to stop all entrants for inspection and taxation of all goods coming into the state. The Feds had no power to stop this state sanctioned Highway Robbery. The Interstate Commerce Clause was put into the new constitution so that the Feds could stop such shenanigans from the states. Now their doing it again???!!!

[LAGC]

Keep in mind that most states already have what is called a Use Tax, which means you are supposed to be paying state sales tax on stuff you buy online anyway, its just not forced (collected by the online retailers) but supposed to be paid voluntarily when you do your state taxes at the end of the year. But of course, hardly anyone does.

While such a move would definitely hurt online sales, it would probably bolster local in-state brick-and-mortar sales, which is why so many states want to see it done so badly.

Of course, there's nothing stopping people from moving to states that have no sales tax and not having to worry about it either way...

[rci2950]

pretty sure ordering from china on ebay will stifle that.

[imanaknut]

One day we won't have to worry about this. That day will come when the government says openly what they don't want to say, that all our money is theirs. That when we work, our employers will send the government all our money, and the government will keep what they want, and give us what they feel we should have. That way they could say "We did away with all taxes. Aren't we good!"

And life will go on in the United Socialist Republic of America.

[Krupski]

After that, we'll have a Financial Transaction Tax - which will mean .gov will tax it's cut every time you deposit a check in the bank or take cash out of an atm. Wait and see.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-0...s-tax-imminent

Um... isn't it illegal to tax purchases made out of state if the seller has no business connection with the buyer's state?

And besides, I already paid a federal tax on my income. Why should I pay again?

[Krupski]

Keep in mind that most states already have what is called a Use Tax, which means you are supposed to be paying state sales tax on stuff you buy online anyway, its just not forced (collected by the online retailers) but supposed to be paid voluntarily when you do your state taxes at the end of the year. But of course, hardly anyone does.

While such a move would definitely hurt online sales, it would probably bolster local in-state brick-and-mortar sales, which is why so many states want to see it done so badly.

Of course, there's nothing stopping people from moving to states that have no sales tax and not having to worry about it either way...

I was about to write "what kind of idiot would VOLUNTARILY pay a tax?" and then I thought of my mother-in-law.

She's no idiot... and she's the nicest lady I know... but she is honest to the point of nausea.

If she found a $20 bill on the sidewalk, she would donate it to the church and then make a note in her book to remember to pay tax on it next April. No shit.

[Punk]

Dirty rotten sonsabitches.