so i've been thinking..its been a solid decade since the internet went mainstream...is it time for sales tax to be charged on those sales?
State sales tax, right? If I buy buy some CDs from Cali on the net, who get to charge me sales tax? Cali or Texas? That is pretty untenable. Eventually the federal government will create a VAT tax, which means they get theirs from internet sales. I could see states piggy-backing the federal VAT tax.
i agree...that's the problem right now...and the likely outcome is as you describe it. either way, the cost will be passed to the consumer. i can't imagine someone rooting for that.
BTW continuing my example above, if you buy CDs from a Texas company/business (or a national company with a Texas store) on the net, you will get charged Texas state tax.
Right, if the store is in the state you have to pay taxes, if its out of state, no sales tax. I don't think they will do it because its not just internet sales that are avoiding tax. For example, I bought a computer in NY a few years ago, but had it shipped to my gf in NJ, which saved me about $100 by not paying sales tax. Secondly, if they even did get around to instituting tax, they would have to change the rules for mail order, too. Otherwise companies would just put a phone number on their website and you would call and order the good tax free. To allow this would be asking states to tax goods sold outside of their states, which i think is a federal matter. besides, i order on-line more because it saves me time, and sometimes shipping is cheaper than paying sales tax and gas to go the store (and have it not be there). Also, I don't think there are enough online shoppers who are taking a big enough chunk of that sales tax away from states.
