Fed Internet Sales Taxes

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: John Levine <johnl () iecc com>
> Date: May 21, 2008 11:54:04 AM EDT
> To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
> Cc: "Patrick W. Gilmore" <patrick () ianai net>
> Subject: Re: [IP] Fed Internet Sales Taxes

> > > I hear this a lot and I always wonder: Will they tax 800-number  
> > > orders
> > > as well?  They are the same thing, just two ways to get a company to
> > > mail you a product.  The "web" is just a way to remove the human
> > > operator from a mail order service.
>
> The Quill case, which is the 1992 case the article refers to, was  
> about
> paper mail order catalogs, presumably with telephone ordering, since  
> the
> catalogs that Quill sends me have always had a phone number to call.
>
> I've never understood why this sales tax question has been framed as
> an Internet issue, when in fact it applies equally to mail order
> catalog sales, which are still about the same size as online sales.  I
> suppose online stores are new and sexy while mail order is so 19th
> century.  But the tax issues are the same.
>
> Incidentally, I've been making the same points this article does for
> many years.  A decade on the board of my village, including three
> years as mayor, let me see up close and personal how unfair it is to
> both the local services that are paid for by sales tax (most of our
> budget goes to police, fire, and public works) and to the local
> merchants who have collected the taxes all along.  If online stores
> can't exist in 2008 without an artificial 5% or 8% price advantage due
> to tax quirks, they're in the wrong business.
>
> Regards,
> John Levine, johnl () iecc com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet  
> for Dummies",
> Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, ex- 
> Mayor
> "More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly.
>
>
> > > On May 21, 2008, at 10:11 AM, David Farber wrote:
> > > > Begin forwarded message:
> > > >
> > > > > From: Robert Atkinson <rca53 () columbia edu>
> > > > > Date: May 21, 2008 10:07:38 AM EDT
> > > > > To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
> > > > > Subject: For IP: Internet Sales Taxes
> > > > >
> > > > > Dave,
> > > > >
> > > > > A call in Wall St. Journal for imposing sales taxes on internet
> > > > > commerce:
> > > > >
> > > > > http://online.wsj.com/article/portals.html
> > > > >
> > > > > Excerpts:
> > > > >
> > > > > Real World Needs 'Net' Taxes
> > > > > May 21, 2008; Page B9
> > > > >
> > > > > Do you think that billionaire Internet moguls should continue to
> > > > > benefit from a tax loophole that hurts parks and schools, and  
> > > > > makes
> > > > > it harder for your neighborhood bookstore to keep open for  
> > > > > business?
> > > > >
> > > > > I didn't think you did.
> > > > >
> > > > > ***
> > > > >
> > > > > For starters, by giving online businesses a permanent advantage
> > > > > over their bricks-and-mortar competitors, it helps those who need
> > > > > it least -- huge, profitable e-commerce companies -- at the  
> > > > > expense
> > > > > of often-struggling local retailers.
> > > > >
> > > > > In addition, the tax policy is regressive. It disproportionately
> > > > > benefits the upscale citizens most likely to shop online. Worst of
> > > > > all, as commerce increasingly moves online, state and local
> > > > > governments are being deprived of the sales-tax revenues they rely
> > > > > on to run schools, build roads, pay police and firefighters, and  
> > > > > do
> > > > > all the other things they're supposed to do.
> > > > >
> > > > > A dozen years ago, one might have been able to make the case  
> > > > > that a
> > > > > holiday on collecting sales tax would help the fledgling Internet
> > > > > get off the ground. I don't think that was particularly true even
> > > > > in 1996; it certainly isn't now.
> > > > >
> > > > > ***
> > > > >
> > > > > Opponents of the tax collection are fond of the effective but
> > > > > dishonest slogan that collecting a sales tax would amount to a new
> > > > > "tax on the Internet." But making Amazon collect sales tax on  
> > > > > books
> > > > > is no more "taxing the Internet" than requiring stores to collect
> > > > > taxes on Valentine's Day chocolates amounts to "taxing falling in
> > > > > love."



-------------------------------------------
Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com