I can understand the argument that taxation is legal plunder, etc., but assuming the acceptance of taxes as the status-quo, why is it MY duty to pay taxes to a foreign government because one of their citizens purchased something from me? Shouldn't it be the buyer's responsibility to report his/her digital purchases on the tax form (as required by law) so he/she can pay the legal taxes to his/her government?
Imagine if my kid went into a store and bought a candy bar and then I went to the store manager and said, "Hey, you owe me 30% of the income you earned from my kid because of the tax rule I made for my kids."
The manager would do at least one of these three things:
- Laugh me out of the store since I have no authority to enforce the tax.
- Refuse to sell candy to me or my children.
- Pay the taxes because I have mafia connections and he's scared of my threats.
But since I'm not a thug, and I don't have mafia connections, and I'm not making threats, it would be one (or both) of the first two.
I'm just one guy who makes small things and sells them on an online marketplace (much like a flea-market). I don't have the time or resources to find out where everyone who buys my digital goods lives, learn their regional tax laws, then charge them extra to cover the taxes.
Which means I charge the same amount of money for the "goods" I'm selling no matter where they live, which means I make even less money since now my income will be taxed not only by my own government, but now also by a government which as far as I can tell has no authority to demand taxes from me, which means I have even less resources to figure out how to comply with their stupid tax laws. Which means I may have to refuse to sell to anyone who lives in the EU, which means I have even less money. Which means I may go "out of business" due to all these silly regulations.
Thanks for helping to build the economy!
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