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- BigBunion, on 10/12/2007, -1/+46The IRS has nothing to do with this. Sales tax is state and local only, not federal.
- adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22This is BS. The whole reason I buy most things online is that I DON'T have to pay sales tax, if the government was a little more reponsible about how they spent the money i give them then i wouldn't have a problem with this. But my state is so deep in debt, we just sold our toll road for five billion dollars or something, and are they going to pay off the debits? Nope, going for a new football stadium and some new highways they say "we just have to have..." So screw them. untill they can show me they are spending the money I give them like damn adults they won't see a dime of my online purchases.
- strictnein, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Marked as inacurrate. The beginning of the article: "If you did, _state tax collectors_ warn that you'd better say so by April 17 and write a check--or else."
- Nation, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20Simple solution: http://www.fairtax.org/
The tax laws are really complex now. If you really want to get mad, start a small business and start to see all the little taxes that make no since at all and make it harder for your company to survive. - CosmicJustice, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13In 2004, the price of crude oil averaged $36.97 per barrel, and crude oil accounted for about 47% of the cost of a gallon of regular grade gasoline. In comparison, the average price for crude oil in 2003 was $28.50 per barrel, and it composed 44% of the cost of a gallon of regular gasoline. Today crude oil is around $70 per barrel. Average state and federal (US) tax per gallon is 42 cents. http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/primer_on_gasoline_prices/html/petbro.html
How in the heck have oil prices gone up 220% in three years? Has demand spiked that much. Worldwide production is up. Production costs are flat or down. - mcherm, on 10/12/2007, -9/+22You are confused. The current state laws (in many, but not all US states) require citizens of the state to pay tax on all purchases they make. Sellers in the state are required to collect this on the citizens' behalf, but the state law requires the citizen to report any purchases on which tax was NOT collected and pay up. Of course, most citizens don't do this... but all that's being reported here is an attempt to enforce the existing laws!
Also, $3.00 for gas is *low* -- how come Americans like me can't realize that? Try buying gas in Europe. And the rise in gas prices has nothing to do with taxes... gas taxes have been *lowered* in a few states (eg: NJ), but not raised anywhere. Instead, the cost of gas has gone up because (1) the war in Iraq, (2) increased demand from China the the USA, and (3) we're running out of oil. - userundefine, on 10/12/2007, -11/+23Where do these people get off? They tax gas so high that it'll be over $3.00 soon in the summer; where are road improvements are being made? The education systems of most states are in the toilet (while No Child Left Behind can be at fault for some of this, schools have been terrible long before Bush). At least they balance their budget as opposed to the federal government, but what does it matter?
Keep writing some more ineffectual "identity theft protection" laws instead of punishing the nonchalant companies who are careless with customers' sensitive information. Do we not already pay federal taxes, state taxes, property taxes, car taxes, in-state sales tax? Now the states want to tax the consumer because they purchased something from a business out-of-state that they can't tax directly. Piss off. - kickmenow, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15"Your thinking of the Democrats. Republicans want to lower taxes. Dumbass"
Uh, sort of. The Republicans want to lower taxes, by borrowing money. Your taxes go down today. Your taxes go up tomorrow (along with those of your kids, and their kids, and...)
The right way to do it is to spend less, which frankly neither party seems to know much about.
The real "dumbass" is the person who thinks they are saving money by waiting until later to collect it. - proto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11
Actually, individual states do not have the power to tax interstate commerce -- so instead, they come up with the concept of a "use tax" which, just coincidently, exactly matches the amount of sales tax they'd like to extract from you. Ignore it. - bacon_skoda, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10agree. stupid title. shows the poster is uninformed.
this tax, though sounds incredibly hard to collect and report. states should find another way. - MrUnderbridge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10You're right, he is confused. But while the tax itself isn't onerous, I think requiring people (particularly those who don't itemize) to track every single online expenditure is freaking retarded.
I'm fine with paying the tax - but how about those clowns actually figure out a legal way for states to collect taxes on interstate commerce rather than telling regular people who file the 1040EZ to keep receipts on everything they buy for a year? Stupid. - RyeBrye, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8It's state taxes... and some states - like Vermont - have a token amount you can just pay for amnesty. (It's like $20 or $100 or something... I don't live there anymore)
If you live in a state with no sales tax, you are fine.
What is interesting to me is that one online retailer (Backcountry.com ) is located in Utah - yet they have a new policy where they don't make Utah people pay sales tax. They pay it themselves for you - under the logic "Nobody else has to pay sales Tax, so Utah shouldn't either... we'll pay it for you" - But in reality, just about everyone else SHOULD be paying use tax... - sporktek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8What does the IRS have to do with anything?
- stevenb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I pay $615 every two weeks in taxes... they continue ***** everyone with their "taxes" where does that money go?
- fugitivALiEN, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7How do you "buy online" without an electronic transaction?
- mrgreen4242, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10"Also, $3.00 for gas is *low* -- how come Americans like me can't realize that? Try buying gas in Europe."
SHUT THE FARK UP. I am so tired of Europeans talking down at Americans who complain about gas prices. You pay $3 a gallon TAX on the stuff in England, it's YOUR fault that the price is so high. Personally, I wish that we had a similar system, one that had started two decades ago, forcing people into more efficient vehicles, and also providing funding for better mass transit options (which is what you get from those taxes). - hokieaudi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7@stevenb
Actually that's incorrect. The published octane values for European fuel are based on the RON number alone, whereas in the US the published octane values are based on the average of the RON and the MON numbers. Note the (R+M)/2 notation on the octane labels the next time you're at the pump. The RON number is typically 8-10 points higher than the MON number. Thus European gasoline rated at 98 octane (RON) is the same as a US (R+M)/2 number of 93 (98+88)/2.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating
The higher price of fuel in Europe is due in large part to the taxes that are levied on the fuel, in addition to smaller effects from certain economies of scale, demand, etc. For instance in the United Kingdom the 2005 fuel taxes ran over $3.00 per gallon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_Tax - thrillho, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8http://fairtax.org/ people. It makes sense, kills the IRS, and would avoid all of these issues.
- pairanoyd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I buy stuff from out of state on purpose so I don't have to pay tax.
Most of the time the shipping is about the same as if I bought it here.
I don't buy much because I'm disabled and on a very limited income.
They can kiss my ass sideways. I don't make enough to put gas in the tank to go to the store to buy Ramen noodles. These greedy bastards want to bleed me some more?? Go to hell. - RadicalBender, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Exactly. Texas has no state income tax. Here you only get reamed if you own a home.
- jnosanov, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Re lowering taxes... cutting taxes accomplishes NOTHING if spending is not also cut. Bush's tax cuts merely shift the "Work" of money confiscation from taxes to inflation...
Repeat: cutting taxes does NOTHING if spending is not also cut. According to Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas), government borrowing has increased so much under Bush that federal income tax only accounts for 1/3 of the US's income. If federal tax disappeared the government's budget would go back to the way it was in 2000. That is the ridiculous extent of Bush's spending policy.
So, keep every ***** cent you can, because regardless of your behavior, Bush is borrowing and printing so much money that whatever you have left over will be worthless soon anyway.
While this is not meant to be a partisan attack, keep in mind that in Bush's six years in office, the government budget has gone up by ONE THIRD, almost a trillion dollars.
I don't see much of that money being used here around NYC... and I imagine none of you see it put to use in your neighborhood either. - Reddog_x2000, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@ A regressive tax is great for America! The only solution is to tax the poor more! Brilliant!
Those living under the poverty line would pay no tax under this plan. - thegreatsam, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7You are confused.
I live in Washington state, a state with a sales tax. Across the Columbia river in Oregon, is sales-tax free shopping. According to the law, if I were to buy something, then bring it back into Oregon, I should really pay sales tax on it. Of course nobody does, because it is so minor. But when I bought a car from a private party last year, and brought it into the state to be licensed, I was forced to pay sales tax on it.
Most online busniess that do business in a state with sales tax will charge that tax to the same state residents. IE, if you buy a product from Washington reseller, and you live in Washington, you will pay the sales tax. However, if you live in Oregon and you buy from a Washington reseller, you will not pay the tax.
There is nothing wrong with charging the sales tax on an internet purchase. An internet purchase is no different really than a B&M purchase. Phone and mail orders have been charging sales tax for a while now. There really should be no distinction because it was purchased from "cyberspace".
Now, charging a tax because it was an internet purchase, just because it was an internet purchase would be wrong. But I completly agree with a state enforcing its sales tax on e-tailers. - oodanner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5In the article it says that New York is cracking down on their residents if they audit them they will have to produce bank statements, credit card statements, and every other kind of receipt/statement under the sun for all of the purchases they have made. That is such a stupid thing to say and really more of a scare tactic than anything. For anything that shows up on your banking, credit card statements that they didn't get tax for you could just say those were gifts for out of state relatives. The use tax means just that, that you you "use" it in your state. So basically there will always be loopholes around this stuff and it will cost them more to audit you than the potential extra tax money they might get out of you. If you do live in one of these states that says they will "crack down" on you don't believe it and don't give them a dime. Most of them don't deserve the tax money they are already getting much less extra.
- fishbert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I don't know of any California residents who "enjoy" a 7.25% sales/use tax...
- DuNzTaR, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Oh come on, I will pay taxes if I have to, but only for those items I buy after the time they say they will begin to charge, not for my past purchases. This is BS... I don't mind paying taxes because I do in my everyday life but I won't pay taxes for something I purchased days or months ago!
- miketrin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5"Also, $3.00 for gas is *low* -- how come Americans like me can't realize that? Try buying gas in Europe. And the rise in gas prices has nothing to do with taxes... gas taxes have been *lowered* in a few states (eg: NJ), but not raised anywhere. Instead, the cost of gas has gone up because (1) the war in Iraq, (2) increased demand from China the the USA, and (3) we're running out of oil."
mchern, you don't know what you are talking about. Iraq's oil production pre war was about .01% and still is about .01%, Iraq has nothing to do with it, neither does china. The media wants you to think that, you sir, fell for it. The reason gas is up 220% is a) bush administration's energy policy, or lack of, and b) market speculators looking to make money. It works like this, Iran announces that they enriched uranium, the market speculators in the oil futures market go rushing to buy contracts for oil because that news from Iran means instability in the oil market which means the price goes up. These investors have lost hope in stocks and have moved to the futures market. Just the slightest hint of bad news in oil and it's up another dollar. Our inventory is up, there's no problems with the supply, the problem is that the government let's these ***** investors play with the oil markets. Exxon 4th quarter 2005 profits were higher than any company profits in the world, ever. They banked, we paid, all of us fat, lazy ass Americans just sit around and keep paying and saying stupid crap like "china" "OPEC" blah blah blah. If everyone who works for a living and buys gas got as mad as the immigrants marching and stood up we could do something about this. But we don't. - zodiacal, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6fairtax.org idea would clean up all the confusion about taxes....i think its a win win..
- stringycheese, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"California residents, for instance, enjoy a 7.25 percent sales and use tax. State law is strict: If Californians travel to a state with a 5 percent tax and shop there, the law requires them to cough up the 2.25 percent difference when they return."
That is totally lame. What happens if you live in CA and buy from a state with 9% sales tax? Is CA going to refund them the %1.75 difference? NO.
It reminds me of interest. If I earn interest on my savings account, I have to pay income tax on that because it is money earned. By the same logic, I should be able to reduce my income by an interest I paid in loans for personal loans, credit card, car loan, etc. The tax laws suck and are NEVER on the side of the citizens. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5The IRS is technically unconstitutional but no one has the balls to say anything.
- CaptRR, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6JohnboiWaltune, not trying to sound like an ***** here, really I am not, but you need to go back and read the flat tax. Its actually the only tax that would take pretty much the entire tax burden off the poor. How is this done? Through a little thing called a monthly rebate.
The Government would send every family a monthly rebate based on the taxes on basic goods that, that family would pay during that month. Its actually a rather elegant system when you get down to it. The middle class and rich buy more non-essential stuff than the poor do, and the more "stuff" you buy the more you would pay in taxes.
That being said, the fair tax really has nothing to do with this topic since the fair tax would be a federal sales tax that would replace the federal income tax, and capital gains taxes. The taxes they are talking about in the story are being assessed by the states, under the fair tax the states would still be free to tax your income, and try to levy these "use" taxes. - tremor_tj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I wish I could mash the thumbs up botton a hundred times for you.
I agree 100% that what is TRULY needed is some reform in the spending of taxes. They're already grabbing around 50% of my income in taxes...why do they need more? Why do we keep spending more and more on schools, and the quality keeps going down? Isn't that proof enough that throwing money at something isn't the solution.
It's always easy to spend someone elses money. - solargroovy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It's your own damn fault Californians, New Yorkers and S Carolinians. You let your legislatures put the burden of tracking taxes on the consumer for no corresponding benefit (like itemizing purchases for deductions).
If the states want the money so badly, let them figure out how to track it or give you an incentive for reporting it (lower use tax).
Are they really going to go after Joe SixPack because he didn't pay $100 in sales tax on his DVD collection? They must have some ginormous fines to cover the cost of the audit. Plead that you didn't realize tax wasn't being collected and arbitrate the fine down. If the fine is excessive compared to the infraction, that won't stand up.
Unless you buy and sell Lambourghinis over the internet, this is a non-issue. - webpoet73, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Who's honeslty going to own up to purchasing a large amount of out-of-state purchases. That was always the advantage of buying online. I was always told that sales tax was only charged if the reseller had a store in the state in which you lived. Such as when Gateway had stores, I paid sales tax online because there was a Gateway store in my state. The first Gateway computer I bought, they did not charge sales tax as there was no such thing as a Gateway store at that time.
I guess I was told wrong. Most people are going to rely on the reseller to collect and report taxes for them. And does this include auctions sites like eBay? - Reddog_x2000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@aburd who says:
"The fact that it has a floor doesn't change the fact that it is a regressive tax. People who make less will always be taxed more under this system. So whereever the bottom is, consider those people screwed."
*****. You have no idea what you're talking about. If I were a teacher grading that remark you'd get a zero.
First, This is not a regressive tax. You get a prebate to reimburse you for the tax you will pay on necessities. Above that, everyone pays the same amount of fairtax on each NEW item they buy. That's completely equal across the board, not regressive.
Hell, if you want you can even reduce your tax burden by buying used items instead of new. Some people may even make a few bux because their prebate was larger than the fairtax they paid on new items.
Furthermore, you don't back up anything you said with even a single fact. Don't just go shooting off your mouth like you know what you're talking about. Show me numbers. I want you to show me the circumstances under which someone gets screwed. The proper wording is
Well Reddog a family of X number of people making $Y can't avoid paying more in fairtax than he would under the current system.
Go ahead and mod me down if you want. But, if you do, we'll both know it's because you can't meet the challenge & you'd rather hide behind the modding system. - chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I'll just tell them I must have missed that somewhere in the 9000+ page tax code.
- doghand, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3From the artiicle "New York state has added a line to income tax returns requiring all residents to calculate how much they should pay on Internet, mail order or out-of-state purchases"
So does that mean if you go to another state and buy something and pay sales tax their you also owe your own state sales tax? That doesn't seem fair. I live in vermont but make most major purchases in new hampshire(where I work) which is tax free. I wonder if I'm supposed to pay tax on all those items. - BigSky, on 10/12/2007, -6/+9Exactly. The Dems will tax and spend, and the Repubs will borrow and spend. Either way, WE get screwed. Time for people to wake up and take a stand. Check out the Libertarian Party and fairtax.org....
- mrgreen4242, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4That's a pretty good program. I generally don't bother to pay anything for "use tax", but I'd pony up $20 or 25 for a flat rate "audit insurance", and I think that'd be a pretty popular choice. Plus, the cost savings on administration would have to be huge.
However, the whole concept is BS anyways. A USE TAX? I mean, c'mon. I can kinda see a sale tax, it's taxing a transaction that happens entirely within the jurisdiction of the government entity collecting it. If I buy something for my personal use and have it delivered to me from an area outside that realm, it's no one but my own and the merchants business.
If states were smart they'd tax UPS and FEDEX type shipping services. Put a small delivery, flat amount tax on each package sent, which would get passed onto the buyer eventually, and call it good. Call it $0.75 a box. - Drizzit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@mcherm and the rest of the EU
Americans pay more per gallon on gas than Europe. Remember your tax base is based on sales taxes (VAT and whatever) do you have income tax? In the US we have federal income tax, state income tax, city income tax, inspection fees, emissions fees, tolls and god knows what else.
That's why we dont have 4 dollars worth of taxes on our gas. So piss off we pay more. Hell the beeb ran a story on it once and determined we paid more and that was back in the 90's I think. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"How do you "buy online" without an electronic transaction?"
You can pay for stuff using money orders, for one. - meefman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Maybe there is a good side to living in a state dominated by tax-hating republicans. Hail Virginia.
- trialofmiles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You're supposed to pay the difference. From a link in this article:
"California residents, for instance, enjoy a 7.25 percent sales and use tax. State law is strict: If Californians travel to a state with a 5 percent tax and shop there, the law requires them to cough up the 2.25 percent difference when they return." - zodiacal, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6www.fairtax.org
- andreo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Screw the Democrats and the Republicans. When Bush Sr. was in office 1/3rd of my paycheck went to taxes. When Clinton was in office 1/3rd of my paycheck went to taxes. And now with G.W. Bush in office 1/3rd of my paycheck goes to taxes.
So when I hear the talking heads on television and radio tell me about "tax and spend" democrats I have to wonder who the hell actually believes that crap. Who doesn't have the memory to remember that they've been getting taxed out the ass for as long as they've been working. But enough about the morons in Washington D.C.
As for the state taxes. I have to wonder if big retailers could be behind this somehow. I mean who has suffered the most from on-line sales? Sure the big stores are on-line also. But because they have a presence in almost ever state in the union they have to collect sales tax on-line also. Which could loose them that sale to someone on Ebay, Amazon, or Jim Bob's surplus memory that some guys runs out of his basement.
I mean after all, it's a lot of work for the state to hunt down some random dude or dudette. Have them produce bank records just to find out that they bought a $60 hard drive with a $20 rebate. Or maybe in the extreme case they upgraded their computer and spent $1000 on equipment (I'm sure the state wouldn't want to miss out on that 70 bucks). But I know what your saying. $70 X 2 million people is alot of money. And it is. But hunting everyone down one by one to try to collect it will cost the state more (but I guess that's what the penalties are for).
Anyway, the best way to get around this would be to pay via money order. Even if you bought the money order at your bank, they would withdraw the money as cash. Then they would create the money order. So if you had to produce bank records. It would just show up as cash withdrawals. Just tell the auditor that you have a strip club problem. - JohnboiWaltune, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I'm a little wary of anything called "FairTax". You can't be against it without being against something "fair", even though it may actually be nothing of the sort. I'm just annoyed by orwellian wordplay like that.
- mrgreen4242, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"Republicans want to lower taxes for their paying constituency (capital gains, corporate taxes, estate taxes). Their push for eliminating capital gains tax (that's UNEARNED INCOME, folks) is particularly egregious. It's already only 15%, and easily avoided with various tax dodges. Your income tax rate for the sweat of your brow could easily be twice that, and don't count on dodging it, either."
Amen, brother! I'm not advocating we tax capitol gains (or inheritance, for that matter) more than income tax. But it should be treated as income, plain and simple. No discount, no "non-standard" deductions. Pony up for money you made this year. - ngomong, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Waaaait a minute.
So, I'm supposed to pay taxes on item I bought, in the state where I "use" it? What if I travel alot? From what I understand, the use tax is just made up to fill in the loophole of being unable to collect sales tax for items purchased in another state.
But, what's the excuse for sales tax anyway? The shop where I purchased the item is paying their local taxes (presumably). If I live in Pennsylvania, and travel over to New Jersey to buy something, should I demand to not pay NJ tax since I'll be "using" the item in Pennsylvania? If I do pay the tax there, but bring it back to use in Pennsylvania, would I in theory still have to pay a tax to PA? If I buy an item online from a store in Tennessee, shouldn't the sales tax really go to Tennessee, regardless of where I use the item? If I go on vacation in Texas and bring my camera, should I be paying them a tax for the privilege of using it? Where is the line drawn?
Very confused. - myxyplik, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3It's not the IRS, it's the states. Reported as inaccurate.
- starbird, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2And what about iTunes Music Store purchases? How does that apply? I am only buying 0's and 1's..........
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