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Yet another reason why I often wish I lived in Massachusettes
Stoic Joker:
As shown by the fact that at least in my case, I'm more pissed at the local business associations now after their 'success'.-wraith808 (February 05, 2013, 11:29 AM)
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+1 - It does sound a bit like (ultimately only the lawyers win) a pyrrhic victory doesn't it.
xtabber:
I'd guess that within a few years, that will be the case with all states that have sales taxes, as it should be.
-xtabber (February 05, 2013, 08:51 AM)
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Am I missing something here?
-40hz (February 05, 2013, 09:13 AM)
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As I noted, sales taxes are among the most regressive forms of taxation, and I personally think that they should be replaced with more progressive forms of revenue, like income, or preferably, wealth taxes.
But if a state does impose a sales tax, it should do so equally for all applicable sales.
In every state that I am aware of that has a sales tax, if you make purchases and the merchant does not collect state sales tax. you are supposed to report this and pay "use tax" on the purchase. That nobody actually does so (except for things like automobiles, where it can be enforced by requiring proof of tax payment in order to register a vehicle) just means that merchants that do not collect state and local sales taxes are helping people violate their state laws.
The solution to bad laws is not to allow some people to get away with violating them, but to replace them with better laws. The same goes for taxes.
wraith808:
So, as 40 said, it's an excise tax levied on the inhabitants of the state, and borne by those same inhabitants. Use tax is a bad idea to begin with. The emphasis should be on removing unenforceable and taxes rather than forcing out of state retailers to collect them IMO. And this wasn't for this purpose, it was to mollify local retailers. The out of state retailers don't use the state's facilities, so it's not like it goes towards recompense for any such thing. They are getting paid for doing nothing basically, and increasing the burden on the out of state commerce, i.e. Amazon has to deal with the use tax for many jurisdictions. It also sets precedence for putting the same burden on operations that can't really afford to deal with the extra overhead.
When some of these brick and mortar retailers that subsidize their local business with out of state commerce get hit with the same stick, I think you'll hear a different song being sung.
tomos:
Do retailers in CT (etc.) not have to charge a sales tax?
Ah, okay, I understand a bit better now, it's cause they were out of state.
Guess I'm used to the fact that there's (supposed to be) sales tax on every transaction here - whether it's from outside the country or not (I'm comparing EU countries with US States).
Would be *very* happy to see it gone (19% here on non-food; I think it's 7% on food)
40hz:
The solution to bad laws is not to allow some people to get away with violating them, but to replace them with better laws. The same goes for taxes.
-xtabber (February 05, 2013, 01:13 PM)
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Ok. But considering how incredibly unresponsive to the wishes of its voters most legislatures are, exactly how does one bring that blissful thing about? :huh:
Because I've heard that exact same suggestion being made since about 1977. And so far, little if anything has come of it.
Interestingly, the gentlemen behind the creation of the United States had a very different notion of how to deal with this very issue. They considered it a moral necessity and the civic duty of people to evade or ignore unjust laws once all procedural attempts at remedy (and direct appeals to those in power) had been exhausted.
The clearest indication that a law is either unjust, or does not reflect the will of the people, is the degree to which it is ignored or flaunted by the general public.
Americans - and their legislators - should understand that better than most. 8)
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