The Amazon Tax

Post by **GORDON** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:42 am

http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news....ork.htm

Tax free online shopping may be coming to an end.

Post by **thibodeaux** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:15 am

The so-called "Amazon tax" closes a loophole for Internet retailers...

Oh, it's a LOOPHOLE. Well, gotta close those loopholes.

New York expects the new requirement will generate about $50 million in revenue this fiscal year.

That's the real reason, right there.

They argued that compelling merchants to adhere to the complexities of the state and local tax codes would place an unreasonable burden on interstate commerce.

My wife just started a business, and from listening to her, it sounds like INTRAstate commerce is no cakewalk. You gotta know what county a customer lives in, maybe even city. We only have 100 counties here, though.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 1:41 pm

Eh, it's only a matter of time before humanity fucks up the net & someone else invents yet another communication alternative.

Post by **GORDON** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:52 pm

thibodeaux wrote:
They argued that compelling merchants to adhere to the complexities of the state and local tax codes would place an unreasonable burden on interstate commerce.
My wife just started a business, and from listening to her, it sounds like INTRAstate commerce is no cakewalk. You gotta know what county a customer lives in, maybe even city. We only have 100 counties here, though.

There are software packages for that, that can tell you county/city/etc for whatever address you enter.

I can't remember the name of the one I went to a class for 8 years ago, but I did. It was in Philli.

unkbill · Post by **unkbill** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:51 pm

GORDON wrote:
thibodeaux wrote:
They argued that compelling merchants to adhere to the complexities of the state and local tax codes would place an unreasonable burden on interstate commerce.
My wife just started a business, and from listening to her, it sounds like INTRAstate commerce is no cakewalk. You gotta know what county a customer lives in, maybe even city. We only have 100 counties here, though.
There are software packages for that, that can tell you county/city/etc for whatever address you enter.

I can't remember the name of the one I went to a class for 8 years ago, but I did. It was in Philli.

Or when I ship kites out of state I just say screw it. I pay state taxes for different countys in Ohio. That is bitch enough. Then I forgot and the penalty on forgetting to send 20$ is 80$. I almost cancelled my licence and say screw it you won't get any.

Post by **GORDON** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:43 pm

Vertex software, I think. Zip code gets you city and county, for tax purposes.

Mommy Dearest · Post by **Mommy Dearest** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:22 pm

State of Ohio has a sight called "The Finder" we check every tax return for city and school district taxes. They have been wrong more than once

Post by **GORDON** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:30 pm

Mommy Dearest wrote:State of Ohio has a sight called "The Finder" we check every tax return for city and school district taxes. They have been wrong more than once

"State of Ohio" website is a government entity. Vertex is a private company and they have actual consequences for having a bad product.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:22 am

GORDON wrote:
Mommy Dearest wrote:State of Ohio has a sight called "The Finder" we check every tax return for city and school district taxes. They have been wrong more than once
"State of Ohio" website is a government entity. Vertex is a private company and they have actual consequences for having a bad product.

Like Macroshaft faces consequences for a bad OS?

Post by **TPRJones** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 2:21 pm

If the bill passes in NY, I can see two things happening. Some major retailers who don't already operate in NY will (for awhile at least) stop doing business with NY state. Amazon might do this, for example, although probably not for very long. The second will be that many many many retailers will just ignore the law, and NY state will have their hands full trying to deal with thousands of out-of-state retailers ignoring their tax laws entirely.

It'll be a huge unenforcable mess. And then NY will bitch and scream and we'll get a federal law about it passed that will make things even worse, and will be ignored by the rest of the world (and some major internet retailers will shift their business overseas to allow them to ignore it).

Hard to say how it will eventually end up. Mabye the government will finally admit there's something they can't effectively tax.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 2:54 pm

TPRJones wrote:Mabye the government will finally admit there's something they can't effectively tax.

The day that happens is the day I quit drinking. Cos obviously the world'll be fucked up enough to the point where no amount of chemicals would let me make sense of it.

Post by **TPRJones** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:33 pm

Admittedly I may be being overly optimistic on that point.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:52 pm

TPRJones wrote:Admittedly I may be being overly optimistic on that point.

Come on, the modern U.S. gov't has the greatest extortion scheme ever. Give them enough protection money or they'll send the enforcers out to retrieve you, seize your assets, and then put your life on hold for a few years (cos killing isn't good for PR). There's a completely legitimate reason to pay that cash, too. Supposed to protect you from the rest of the world. There's a great deal of debate that goes on as to just how much safety is guaranteed.

Post by **TPRJones** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 4:41 pm

True, but the ultimate end game of this scenario has us invading every other country in the world that has internet access and sells goods to US citizens through it. There comes a point where that sort of thing just isn't practical, and even the biggest idiots in Congress would be hard pressed to avoid admitting it.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:45 pm

Yeah, we'd never send aircraft in to fuck with citizens of another country cos they might sell something to us.

Post by **TPRJones** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:16 pm

Sure we would! But would we attack all of them? Probably not.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:19 pm

TPRJones wrote:Sure we would! But would we attack all of them? Probably not.

Not all at once. But maybe one by one.

Post by **GORDON** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 3:40 am

Similar shit currently in congress.

http://www.news.com/8301-10...._3-0-20

Looks like America has declared war on Amazon.

Post by **TheCatt** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:58 am

I like porn.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 12:18 pm

GORDON wrote:Similar shit currently in congress.

http://www.news.com/8301-10...._3-0-20

Looks like America has declared war on Amazon.

But state tax collectors have long complained that in practice, that just doesn't happen, and that money has been unfairly left in taxpayers' pocketbooks.

Emphasis mine. Unfairly? It's unfair that I keep more of my own money? Yeah, what a fucking crime.

Verenda Smith, government affairs associate for the Federation of Tax Administrators, framed the decision as a moral one of sorts: "Do you want to be a good American, or do you want to be an American who wants to cheat your government deliberately? It's a harsh way to look at it, but it's true."

Once my gov't stops cheating me, I'll stop cheating it. Till then, go fuck yourself with a wheat thresher.

Edited By Malcolm on 1208362734