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FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Internet Sales Tax passes Senate; fate in House uncertain

The Internet Sales Tax bill that would allow states to force online companies to collect sales tax on internet purchases has passed the Senate. The chances for passage in the House are problematical.

»www.washingtontimes.com/ ··· s-house/

A bill that would let states collect Internet sales taxes from online retailers and their customers may have sailed through the Senate, but it is expected to face much more resistance from tax-wary Republicans in the House.

Though the Marketplace Fairness Act, sponsored by Sens. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, and Mike Enzi, Wyoming Republican, is a bipartisan bill that is backed by more than 20 House Republicans, supporters and opponents both agree it will be a “harder fight” in the House with billions of dollars in future e-commerce at stake.

the bill would require Internet retailers to collect the tax — just like their brick-and-mortar peers now do. The government sees this as a more efficient means of collection.

States have thrown their support behind the Marketplace Fairness Act, because they want these uncollected taxes to help fill their coffers. Brick-and-mortar stores also support it as a way to level the playing field. They point out that online stores enjoy an unfair advantage, because many consumers go online to save money by avoiding sales tax.

But many online retailers, including eBay, oppose the bill, because they say it would shift the unfair advantage to the opposite end of the spectrum. While traditional retailers only collect the tax rates for where their stores are located, which is fairly simple, online stores would have to collect sales taxes based on where their customers are located.

An online retailer would have to deal with more than 9,600 tax-collecting jurisdictions, including state and local governments. Not only do these governments have their own, unique tax rates, but they also classify products different. For instance, in one city, a candy bar may be considered taxable good, but in another city it may be classified as “food,” which is often not taxed at all.

if fewer than half of House Republicans support it, the bill likely won’t even make it to the floor — a principle for all bills that Speaker John A, Boehner has indicated he plans to follow.


IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Re: Internet Sales Tax passes Senate; fate in House uncertain

I'd rather see states banned from collecting sales tax, period.

We pay high taxes in Western Mass so Boston can have all the goodies.

hey hey hey
@charter.com

hey hey hey

Anon

Re: Internet Sales Tax passes Senate; fate in House uncertain

said by IowaCowboy:

I'd rather see states banned from collecting sales tax, period.

Considering my state has no income tax( banned by the state constitution ) and over 90% of the revenue comes form sales taxes I'm not sure how my state's government would function.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

1 recommendation

Kearnstd to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
This is easy for Amazon to handle but I would not be able to handle 9600 different tax codes each with hundreds or thousands of pages of rules if I ran a small shop.

This is in reality the "Drive mom&pop websites out of business act."
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: Internet Sales Tax passes Senate; fate in House uncertain

said by Kearnstd:

This is in reality the "Drive mom&pop websites out of business act."

No, the reality is that states are beyond tired of their citizens skirting their laws and losing out on huge streams of revenue. There is nothing nefarious about requesting collection of sales tax at time of purchase, just as is done if you walk into a B&M store. What will happen is we'll see collection agencies pop up with legal armies that will offer these "mom and pop websites" tax collection/advisement services for a nominal fee. Life will move on, the Internet won't implode, and states will pull in more revenue so that they can continue with their spending sprees.
Wilsdom
join:2009-08-06

1 recommendation

Wilsdom

Member

Re: Internet Sales Tax passes Senate; fate in House uncertain

The "lost" revenue is already adjusted for through higher income and property tax rates. A new revenue stream being sucked out of the economy is definitely going drag us down further
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: Internet Sales Tax passes Senate; fate in House uncertain

To a certain extent. But that doesn't change the states' desires/needs to increase revenue. This technically isn't a new revenue stream.

hey hey hey
@charter.com

hey hey hey to openbox9

Anon

to openbox9
said by openbox9:

No, the reality is that states are beyond tired of their citizens skirting their laws and losing out on huge streams of revenue.

Exactly in most states like mine citizens are actually SUPPOSED to send in the sales tax themselves to the state. Most don't. Heck I don't. So 99.9% of us are actually tax cheats. Now people are going to rant about not being able to cheat on their taxes anymore.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: Internet Sales Tax passes Senate; fate in House uncertain

Not that ignorance is an excuse, but I'm willing to bet most consumers don't understand that a lot of states require payment of use taxes for items ordered interstate via the Internet. The outrage over online retailers collecting sales taxes stems from this ignorance. A lot of consumers believe this is a new tax.

carpetshark3
Premium Member
join:2004-02-12
Idledale, CO

carpetshark3 to openbox9

Premium Member

to openbox9
said by openbox9:

said by Kearnstd:

This is in reality the "Drive mom&pop websites out of business act."

No, the reality is that states are beyond tired of their citizens skirting their laws and losing out on huge streams of revenue. There is nothing nefarious about requesting collection of sales tax at time of purchase, just as is done if you walk into a B&M store. What will happen is we'll see collection agencies pop up with legal armies that will offer these "mom and pop websites" tax collection/advisement services for a nominal fee. Life will move on, the Internet won't implode, and states will pull in more revenue so that they can continue with their spending sprees.

Some use online since the merchants in town sell all the same stuff or varieties thereof. You really cannot purchase some items. If merchants observe Wally world selling crap, they carry the same crap. No option to special order, or a connection to special order.

I won't support the town. I'll drive over to another and buy there.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: Internet Sales Tax passes Senate; fate in House uncertain

And that has what to do with mandating collection of sales taxes for online purchases?

hey hey hey
@charter.com

hey hey hey to Kearnstd

Anon

to Kearnstd
said by Kearnstd:

This is easy for Amazon to handle but I would not be able to handle 9600 different tax codes each with hundreds or thousands of pages of rules if I ran a small shop.

This is in reality the "Drive mom&pop websites out of business act."

Considering this only applies to business that have over $1 mil in revenue I hardly would call that mom and pop

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Verizon VoiceLink

I doubt that the Verizon landline replacement will create problems for alarm dialers due to the codecs.

My alarm company has most of their systems monitored via dial tone.

defiant
Former Charter lackey
join:2013-03-22
Monroe, MI
ARRIS TM1602
Asus RT-AC68
Netgear WNDR3700v4

defiant

Member

Re: Verizon VoiceLink

The real question is: will the cell towers VoiceLink relies upon be resilient enough to maintain service in a natural disaster scenario. What if the tower's backhaul is disrupted? How many times have we heard that cell service becomes unreliable during a disaster?
HeadSpinning
MNSi Internet
join:2005-05-29
Windsor, ON

HeadSpinning

Member

Re: Verizon VoiceLink

said by defiant:

The real question is: will the cell towers VoiceLink relies upon be resilient enough to maintain service in a natural disaster scenario. What if the tower's backhaul is disrupted? How many times have we heard that cell service becomes unreliable during a disaster?

Apparently the copper network wasn't resilient enough to maintain service in a natural disaster either.

defiant
Former Charter lackey
join:2013-03-22
Monroe, MI

defiant

Member

Re: Verizon VoiceLink

The point is, the case is being made that VoiceLink, served by the VZW network, has an advantage over the old POTS network in a disaster.