Comments on: Magid: Time For Uniform Online Sales Tax

CBS' Tech analyst Larry Magid Says Present E-Tail Sales Tax System Dysfunctional

[random_radar]

We should eliminate all sales taxes everywhere. Why do we have to pay the government a fee to spend our money? When the mafia demands a cut of your business, we call it organized crime. It seems to me that the government is just one more criminal racket with its hand in your till.

[takimbo-2009]

The Internet is the biggest warehouse in the world. Why go to the effort of traveling from one local store to another and not find what you want? If you do find it, the store often has the attitude it is doing you a favor selling you something.

Many of the local retailers must think a 40% markup means 40% of the distributor''s suggested retail price. They yell about on-line shoppers who are money ahead buying online, paying the freight and, where necessary, paying sales tax, too.

Sadly, rather than changing their ways, the local retailers will continue pressuring their states to take more action to curb the online shoppers. The states do not need a lot of encouragement to pressure congress because they never feel they are collecting enough taxes anyway
.

[edx50]

Some media person proposed last week we should have $5 a gallon gas as well (just like Europe!). Like it would be a good thing to hand over more money to the government, local or otherwise.

Surely you''re not suggesting the government should tax us even more!

Policians tend to read articles like this and assume it represents public opinion so please spare us next time.

I always hate to hear about the government messing with Internet. I look at it as best "anti-government" there is.

Peace

[ibzjem]

I gladly support local business when I can, but the fact is, somethings aren''t found in local stores. If I want some musician''s CD who isn''t Hanna Montana or Timbaland, most likely the local stores won''t carry it. Fact is, they base their inventory on what they sell and not what''s available to sell. So then I buy online. In some instances I''ve waisted my time and gas looking in local retailers and I certainly don''t want to pay even more, on top of shipping as much as $6-$8 for a CD, when I turn to the internet.

[ms38654ob]

One good reason for living in Mississippi is that virtually no retailers have a physical presence in this state, hence almost all online purchases are tax free.

Not many other benefits of living here though.

[usmcgeorge]

Ok Guy and Gals
Let us do away with the income tax that we now have and have a national Sales Tax. The amount would have to be a % that would replace the current system. This way no matter where you buy things the tax would be the same, and all businesses would have to charge sales tax. I''m sure that all states would benefit from this. Business already collect and pay taxes so this would be no additional collection only larger.
Just a thought. Now let me hear the up and down sides to this. I''m sure that there are alot of you out there know alot more about this than I.
Now I''m going to duck because I know that it is comming.
GeoCar

[jjp735i]

I am sorry, but people are already over taxed as it is. If States would stop wasting so much of the tax payers dollars, they could lower taxes in their home state and maybe people would shop in State more often.

The Government, be it State or Federal, cannot account for most of it''s spending. For what it can account for, most charges paid by the State or Federal Governments are for over priced services.

[serack96]

The fact of the matter is, Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the Constitution states that only Congress has the authority to manage trade activity between the states or foreign countries.

Which means that its unconstitutional for a state to tax goods that you buy from outside the state.

[freckster]

The local merchant has 1-3 sales taxing authorities (TAs) for which they have to determine what is taxed by each (e.g. snack tax), how much to collect, file & pay each.

The i-merchant would have 1000s of TAs; just under 5000 different TAs in the US. One merchant may never sell something in each of those authorities but that doesn''t mean they don''t have to know the particulars for every one in the US.

Arguments for this cite "software" or "service companies" that would do this for you from figuring out how much to filing the returns. Good grief. Now the merchant is TAXED again by having to PAY to manage sales tax collection.

It''s not that it is a bad idea to require the collection of some kind of tax. But it has to be in support of commerce & capitalism. The current sales tax systems are not the way to handle it. Just get those 5000 TAs to agree to handle it on their end. Good luck. They not only want the money, they also want the burden on someone else.

One solution: universally collect X% & pay it to the state it is shipped to. Let the hundreds of TAs in that state fight for it from their state coffers. Force them to clean up their act. The X% would not vary from state to state. States like Oregon where few purchases incur sales tax would get just as much as Florida that charges 6%. The X% should be 2 to 3%; because as pointed out, the merchant is not receiving any benefit from the state.

[juwboy]

One of the causes of the Revolutionary War was Taxation Without Representation.

I feel so much happier knowing that we now have Taxation With Representation.

[mondonerdo]

"...If the cost of maintaining our schools, police and other vital services requires that we pay sales tax at favorite local stores, then we should also have to pay the same tax if we order from an out-of-state e-tailer."

Larry, this is where you miss the point: We pay sales tax at local stores because the stores benefit from the vital services (not us). I benefit from vital services for which I gladly pay with property/license/gas taxes, etc.

I do not however, gladly pay greedy "lost revenue" taxes enacted by states to try to get some of the internet action - the state provides no service to the out-of-state vendor.

[irliberal]

Fuel Taxes
Cigarette Taxes
Alcohol Taxes
Property Taxes
School Taxes
City Taxes
State Taxes
Federal Taxes
Energy taxes
*etc, etc, etc*

Yes, I go out of my way looking to create and pay new taxes. And so does the author of this article.

Uh-huh.