Who's Fighting Against Internet Sales Tax?

[Crackerjaxon]

It sure isn't the dems or "mainstream" republicans.

WASHINGTON — A proposal to strengthen sales taxes on internet commerce is emerging as a new litmus test for Washington Republicans, who are divided over a bill known by its sponsors as the Marketplace Fairness Act and by its opponents as the National Internet Tax Mandate.

The bill, first introduced in 2011, has set off a battle between two generations of Republicans and has given anti-tax leader Grover Norquist a new litmus test for judging the fitness of politicians who will soon be up for reelection. The legislation also an opportunity for Rand Paul to beef up his libertarian bona fides just as he tries to edge further into the mainstream.

"I think this will irritate people," Norquist said in a telephone interview with BuzzFeed. "It's a major issue for Drudge. It's interesting to see, with the SOPA and PIPA things — I think it could get tougher for the tax-the-internet people now."

And, Norquist said in a conspiratorial tone, "I think at some point people will figure out that their state legislator, their congressman, their senator made this possible."

"Those people who think their fingerprints will not be found on the murder weapon will find out that they're wrong," Norquist said. "The guy running against you just might point that out."

Read the rest at:

Internet Sales Tax Emerges As Next Republican Fissure

 

[g5000]

A lot of complexity to the issue.

Here is a copy of the bill: http://www.enzi.senate.gov/uploads/marketplacebill.pdf

I read it, and it appears it would require any large online retailer to collect sales taxes for the state in which the online buyer resides, not the seller. So if you order something from Amazon.com and have it shipped to Chicago, you would have to pay Illinois sales tax on the purchase, and Amazon would have to make sure that tax got to Illinois.

In return, the states would have to simplify their sales taxes under the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP).

A lot of states have already pass laws to conform with the SSTP.

This is a smarter than trying to collect sales taxes based on the seller's location. An online retailer could play all kinds of games with the law as far as where the point of sale occurs. Just look how all the credit card companies headquartered themselves in Delaware because it has the friendliest banking regulations.

Amazon.com would do the same thing.



This is coming, folks.

Brick and mortar stores are behind this. They have to collect sales taxes and feel it is unfair their online competitors do not. And my sense of fair play feels they are right.


Sales taxes are a consumption tax, which is better than taxes on production such as income and property taxes. If states move toward collecting more consumption taxes while moving away from more or higher taxes on production, this would actually be a good thing.


That's my back-of-the-envelope thinking anyway.

 

[Crackerjaxon]

It's smarter not to charge sales tax at all.