Internet Sales TaxFollow

California decided it wanted needed to collect sales tax from online sales. From what I understand the ruling was something like any business that has any kind of brick and mortar type connection with Cali is subject to the sales tax.

The biggest player here is Amazon. Because there are tons of businesses in Cal that also sell stuff through Amazon. So, Amazon would be asked to collect a california sales tax on any products being sent to a Cal address.

Amazon's response was to dump all the businesses that had been selling stuff through their website.

Other states as well, have been trying to get some bit of revenue from on-line sales.

So, on one hand you have brick and mortar stores that have to pay sales tax, competing with online companies that don't. I can see how that could suck.

On the other hand, you have online businesses that do business with all fifty states and lots of other countries. They all have differing tax rates on different categories of items, different systems of collection, etc etc. So, can they be asked to shoulder the burden of tax collection?

Should online sales be taxed regardless of where the shop originates?

How should it be done?

What about Amazon? I think their response to California, and more directly, those businesses that were booted out of Amazon's virtual mega-store was pretty poopy.

Edit - A STORY





Edited, Jul 1st 2011 4:07pm by Elinda

I know Amazon has claimed that Illinois' attempts to collect sales tax was unconstitutional. They're making the same claim with California. I imagine at some point a court is going to have to make a decision.

I'm thinking that sales tax collections could end up being a transaction between the state and the individual resident of that state, with the seller only providing documentation.

Nevermind. I can't read today, apparently.

Edited, Jul 1st 2011 10:46am by BrownDuck

Tell the people losing their jobs in Texas that its because of the Democrats

Texas: Wrecking our own economy, just because we can.

I'm not sure why the California legislator thought Amazon was just going to roll over on this. They did exactly what one would expect a corporation of that size to do.



All the more reason to tax based on income rather than expenditures.

California nominated Schwarzenegger. Plenty of precedent that their judgement was impaired.

I'd start checking the ground water for radium there in Oak Ridge.

Maybe they missed a spot.

Does the US have any kind of VAT system?

I never really noticed, maybe it is only federal taxes on businesses outside of the province.

I don't think we pay too much in taxes, I think we give too much back from taxes.

Huh.

The seed catalouge company Burpee has always added a state sales tax for South Dakota customers for sales originating within SD. Is this a "you gotta pay sales tax regardless of state origination" deal?