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See Full StoryEarly this year, a half-dozen major multichannel retailers, including Toys "R" Us, Wal-Mart and Target, began collecting sales tax on online purchases. The transition came quietly, without much fanfare and, so far at least, without much fallout. Will this promising trend continue in the future, or will consumers rise up against online sales tax as its prevalence grows?
Re: Who's Afraid of Internet Sales Tax?
Posted by: LaraLeigh 2003-04-29 16:11:43 In reply to: Keith Regan
I am new at this - I run an online store for a nonprofit - the arguement is - do we have to charge sales tax on the sales - we do not have a store front anywhere. I have been saying 'no' but I would really like something official to show our accountant because everyone else is afraid to not charge tax. Now, as the website designer/manager, my dilemma has been - what tax do we charge if we do? Most of the people buying things online are from out of state. Do I charge CA rates for everything as that is where we live? No, I shouldn't - we have no real store here. How do you keep up with the rates from each state? Well, I am not THAT worried about losing customers online because most people barely reach $100 per purchase and the tax is not that much - yes, shipping is more expensive. My problem is - how do I program this into my site if I do charge tax? What do I charge? We're a little company - our shopping cart is very simplistic - and I also do a million other things for the company and I need something definite to make this automated to a degree at least. YES, I think it would be great to not charge taxes online ever. That is my first pick. Of course. Second pick is for a universal tax for online (and to keep it small would be nice) - and for legislation to get on about it if they are going to do it. Someone said on this thread that it is wrong to not charge taxes and someone else said it is illegal to CHARGE taxes... and I sit here and say - we're just a dinky little company - we're not Toys R Us or Walmart - whom have stores in every state, I might add - so I assume they are using the loophole to get around paying and in paying now, they are choosing to not go the loophole route - so they are really not companies that I can compare to ours. What about the smaller - e-commerce only companies or nonprofits with giftstores and things like that?
Re: Who's Afraid of Internet Sales Tax?
Posted by: kathleen.mccahill 2003-04-22 13:58:52 In reply to: Keith Regan
The majority of companies have been charging tax -including Amazon. The companies NOT charging tax are the exception not the rule. I still believe we are being taxed to death and have to wonder where does this money go to?!?
Subsidizing other states, sending 80billion to invade a country, take your pick. The collection of intranet sales tax is a license to steal.
Subsidizing other states, sending 80billion to invade a country, take your pick. The collection of intranet sales tax is a license to steal.
Re: Who's Afraid of Internet Sales Tax?
Posted by: gbanta 2003-04-16 16:38:43 In reply to: Keith Regan
This topic is very important to me because it is so misunderstood by most people I talk to. Brick and Mortar businesses (B&M) believe that Internet merchants have an unfair advantage because they do not collect sales tax but the B&M merchants do. They always say that to "level the playing field" Internet merchants should be required to collect sales tax.
1. Sales tax IS collected in any state where the company has any physical assets such as a store (this is called Nexus).
2. The shipping/box charges that Internet merchants must pay (whether collected from the customer or not) is usually much higher than the states sales tax. This already puts Internet merchants at a disadvantage. Add sales tax on top of shipping and it would be very hard to be price competitive.
3. B&M stores are limited to filing taxes with only one state and their local city/county. This makes knowing the tax rates, what is and is not taxable and filing sales tax returns much easier. Internet Merchants would have to deal with over 7,500 possible taxing jurisdictions. If it was limited to just state sales tax, there are 45 states with a sales tax not to mention the home city/county sales taxes.
4. Large discount chains such as Walmart and Kmart already have a physical presence in each state and know how to deal with all the sales taxes. They can afford to staff their sales tax departments with many tax accountants. If all Internet merchants were required to collect taxes they could use this as a competitive advantage on top of the other benefits they have for being so large.
5. Other states provide absolutely no services to out-of-state Internet merchants. This is like free money. They take it in but do not need to provide any benefits for it. The local B&M's get police, fire, roads, schools, etc. in return for collecting sales taxes. When an Internet merchant ships a product out of state, they pay UPS, FedEx, etc. who in turn pay taxes in that state for use of the roads for delivery.
6. Local business people can vote their government leaders out if they do not like their policies or tax rates. The Internet merchants cannot. This is "taxation without representation" a founding principal in this country. Internet merchants can only affect their home state/locale.
7. Internet merchants pay every other tax that the B&M merchants do such as federal income tax, state income tax, county taxes, city taxes, and these taxes are paid on all the money collected, not just the income received from the local state/county/city. Internet merchants pay tax and a lot of it.
Just my views....
gbanta
1. Sales tax IS collected in any state where the company has any physical assets such as a store (this is called Nexus).
2. The shipping/box charges that Internet merchants must pay (whether collected from the customer or not) is usually much higher than the states sales tax. This already puts Internet merchants at a disadvantage. Add sales tax on top of shipping and it would be very hard to be price competitive.
3. B&M stores are limited to filing taxes with only one state and their local city/county. This makes knowing the tax rates, what is and is not taxable and filing sales tax returns much easier. Internet Merchants would have to deal with over 7,500 possible taxing jurisdictions. If it was limited to just state sales tax, there are 45 states with a sales tax not to mention the home city/county sales taxes.
4. Large discount chains such as Walmart and Kmart already have a physical presence in each state and know how to deal with all the sales taxes. They can afford to staff their sales tax departments with many tax accountants. If all Internet merchants were required to collect taxes they could use this as a competitive advantage on top of the other benefits they have for being so large.
5. Other states provide absolutely no services to out-of-state Internet merchants. This is like free money. They take it in but do not need to provide any benefits for it. The local B&M's get police, fire, roads, schools, etc. in return for collecting sales taxes. When an Internet merchant ships a product out of state, they pay UPS, FedEx, etc. who in turn pay taxes in that state for use of the roads for delivery.
6. Local business people can vote their government leaders out if they do not like their policies or tax rates. The Internet merchants cannot. This is "taxation without representation" a founding principal in this country. Internet merchants can only affect their home state/locale.
7. Internet merchants pay every other tax that the B&M merchants do such as federal income tax, state income tax, county taxes, city taxes, and these taxes are paid on all the money collected, not just the income received from the local state/county/city. Internet merchants pay tax and a lot of it.
Just my views....
gbanta
Re: Who's Afraid of Internet Sales Tax?
Posted by: shadowself 2003-04-16 15:35:24 In reply to: Keith Regan
Nuisance or not. People putting up with it or not. It does not matter. It is illegal, plain and simple. States are not allowed to impose taxes on interstate commerce.
If I order something over the phone and get it through the mail there is no sales tax so long as the company does not have an office in my state from which they ship the item.
This internet sales tax will be illegal until we change the federal laws and constitution. It is that simple.
Just because several states are pushing it and several big vendors have caved in does not make it legal or right.
If I order something over the phone and get it through the mail there is no sales tax so long as the company does not have an office in my state from which they ship the item.
This internet sales tax will be illegal until we change the federal laws and constitution. It is that simple.
Just because several states are pushing it and several big vendors have caved in does not make it legal or right.
