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Internet Sales Tax Passed
app103:
As Heritage President Jim DeMint has said, this violates the classic American principle of “no taxation without representation.” Retailers would be forced to act as tax collectors for states in which they have no voice.
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http://blog.heritage.org/2013/04/19/morning-bell-beware-the-internet-sales-tax/
Such online sales tax proposals are taxation without representation. The proposed federal law tells businesses that there is no escape from the clutches of tax-hungry politicians. That concept is antithetical to our federalist system, which promotes competition among our states for the best economic policies.
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444226904577559414267708728.html
-Tinman57 (May 17, 2013, 08:33 PM)
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Merchants are not being taxed by a state in which they do not have representation. They are not paying the tax. They are collecting it. (big difference) Their customers are the ones being taxed, they are the ones paying it, and they do have representation in the state in which they live.
barney:
... they do have representation in the state in which they live.
-app103 (May 17, 2013, 10:47 PM)
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That could be debated ... difference 'tween representative 'n representation :P.
wraith808:
LOL! The pole results only suggest that sales tax evaders are dumber than the average criminal.
-app103 (May 17, 2013, 06:10 PM)
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So, that means that the Act allows more criminals to go free? Or else why only large online retailers? If we're going to go the criminal route, then we look at the meaning of Equal Justice Under Law, i.e.
By the Fourteenth Amendment the powers of the States in dealing with crime within their borders are not limited, but no State can deprive particular persons or classes of persons of equal and impartial justice under the law.
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But, "Equal justice under law" is one of America's most widely violated legal principles, especially by lawyers and lawmakers, so that, of course, won't come up unless the constitutionality is argued, which it seems that at least Amazon's policy seems to be make the most of rather than challenge at this point.
But, again, this has nothing to do with law. And has nothing to do with criminal action. It has more to do with trade regulation and 'marketplace fairness'. And though I've said it before, I'll continue to say it every time that old chestnut is repeated, because it's an important distinction.
If it was being applied fairly and uniformly, then I'd really have no problem with it. If the reasons it was being brought up were because of legal reasons, I'd have no problem with it. But it's being brought up to interfere with the state of interstate commerce. And that's, again, an important distinction.
And because of that, when Amazon starts offering same day delivery to everyone, which is what they're in the process of doing, so that you can order something online and get it the same day, and don't have to go out other than as an entertainment exercise, and profits continue to drop because they don't want to compete based on customer service rather than legislative fiction, what will be the next step? QQ more?
michaelkenward:
I hate sales tax not because of taxes per se, but because I personally think it's idiotic that no-one has the fecking common decency to tell me how much a thingamabob is after taxes until it's already rung up and I've committed to purchasing the item.-Edvard (May 17, 2013, 08:12 PM)
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This always puzzles Europeans, among others. Here all prices include tax. You pay what is on the tag.
app103:
I hate sales tax not because of taxes per se, but because I personally think it's idiotic that no-one has the fecking common decency to tell me how much a thingamabob is after taxes until it's already rung up and I've committed to purchasing the item.-Edvard (May 17, 2013, 08:12 PM)
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This always puzzles Europeans, among others. Here all prices include tax. You pay what is on the tag.
-michaelkenward (May 19, 2013, 11:59 AM)
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That would seriously complicate things, if a customer was the holder of an exemption certificate. Also, a re-pricing nightmare if the tax rate changes.
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