FC: Governors propose tax system; more on programmer's view of taxes

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,32564,00.html

                     Plan To Tax Online Buyers 
                     by Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)

                     10:15 a.m. 16.Nov.1999 PST 
                     WASHINGTON -- If online companies take
                     up a proposal offered by Utah Governor
                     Mike Leavitt on Tuesday, Americans
                     buying mail-order products on the
                     Internet will soon start paying more sales
                     taxes. 

                     The National Governors Association, the
                     US Conference of Mayors, and four other
                     groups introduced the plan, which is
                     designed to prompt online companies to
                     charge sales taxes on a voluntary basis. 

                     Internet firms should "step up to the
                     obligation that any business has
                     anywhere in America," Leavitt (R-Utah),
                     chairman of the governors association,
                     said at a National Press Club event. 

                     [...]


> Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 18:21:59 -0500
> To: declan () well com
> From: Jonathan Zittrain <zittrain () law harvard edu>
> Subject: Re: FC: A programmer's view of Internet taxes
>
> He's right in the first instance--though it does seem only a matter of time 
> before the tech makes it a lot easier to calculate, collect, and remit the 
> tax than in the physical world.  Austan Goolsbee and I have written about 
> this in "Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Taxing Internet Commerce" at 
> <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/zittraintax.pdf>.


> From: NetTaxNO () aol com
> Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 20:46:52 EST
> Subject: Re: FC: A programmer's view of Internet taxes
> To: declan () well com
> X-Mailer: Windows AOL sub 44
>
> Actually, there are 30,000 distinct taxing jurisdictions within the U.S.,
not 
> 7,000, according to testimony at the first meeting of the Congressional 
> Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce. 
>
> Danielle Bujnak
> Independence Forum
> www.in-fo.org



> Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 17:19:56 -0800
> To: declan () well com
> From: Mark Paul <mpaul () sacbee com>
> Subject: Re: FC: A programmer's view of Internet taxes
>
> Cry me a river. If the databases and software are commercially 
> available, it is hard to see where the need for a big staff comes 
> from. As Greenspun points out, most states collect for and remit to 
> local jurisdictions. And most states require only periodic returns 
> and remittances (quarterly or monthly in California), so a firm is 
> looking at what?  At maximum, 600 checks and forms a year produced by 
> an automated system? Traditional firms operating in a  complex state 
> like California (which has around 1,900 separate sales tax 
> jurisdictions,) have managed to collect and remit sales taxes for 
> decades without whining, and ecommerce sites located within 
> California do it every day.
>
> There are important issues of neutrality, unified definitions, etc. 
> that need to be worked out about collecting consumption taxes on Net 
> commerce (see http://www.e-commerce.ca.gov/1d_tax.html for an 
> intelligent discussion.) By all means, let's simplify reporting for 
> all firms. But are we supposed to shed tears because people who want 
> to go into ecommerce  nationally find that the real world of 
> business, including dealing with taxes, is more complicated than they 
> want it to be?
>
>
>
> Mark Paul
> Deputy editor, editorial pages
> Sacramento Bee
> PO Box 15779
> Sacramento, CA 95852
> 916.321.1907 (voice)
> 916.321.1996 (fax)


> From: Burstyn Harold L Civ AFRL/IFOJ <Harold.Burstyn () rl af mil>
> To: "'philg () mit edu'" <philg () mit edu>
> Cc: "'declan () well com'" <declan () well com>
> Subject: RE: A programmer's view of Internet taxes
> Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 06:47:46 -0500
> X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2580.0)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Our Fortune 500 client has "nexus" in all 50 states, meaning that in each
> state they are considered to be "engaged in business" and therefore required
> by law to collect sales tax....
>
> Not quite "all 50 states". New Hampshire has no sales tax, and I believe
> that at least one of the western states also does not (Washington?).
>
> For just this reason, about a dozen years ago WordPerfect's regional
> representatives drove cars with Utah license plates and never admitted to a
> local address or phone number.
>
> Some years ago (and perhaps still), in one western state (Oregon?) they had
> special fractional coins with which one paid part of the sales tax, because
> it was in mills.
>
> All best wishes.
>
> Harold L. Burstyn, Patent Attorney
> <Harold.Burstyn () rl af mil>, <burstynh () iname com>
> <http://www.rl.af.mil/div/IFO/IFOI/IFOIPA/Bio/burstyn.html>
> <http://www.geocities.com/burstynh>
> Air Force Research Laboratory/IFOJ
> 26 Electronic Pky., Rome, NY 13441-4514
> Tel. (315) 330-2087, Fax (315) 330-7583
> Any opinion expressed in this message is solely that of the author.
> It does not constitute legal advice or the opinion of the U.S.Air Force.



> Reply-To: <dodds () home com>
> From: "Ed Dodds" <dodds () home com>
> To: <declan () well com>
> Subject: RE: A programmer's view of Internet taxes
> Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 06:06:51 -0600
> X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook CWS, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0)
> Importance: Normal
>
> Again:
>
> People will put servers on yauchts in international waters and use satellite
> and wireless. Its a non-issue.
>
> Ed Dodds
> dodds () home com



> X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise 4.1
> Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 10:57:55 -0500
> From: Randolph Court <rcourt () dlcppi org>
> To: declan () well com
> Subject: Re: FC: A programmer's view of Internet taxes
>
> Why hire people to write checks?  Can't that Oracle table also handle a
7,000-row table with the routing numbers for all of those tax
jurisdictions' bank accounts, so the money could be remitted directly to
the appropriate account electronically (thus simultaneously eliminating the
need to file the paper schedules)?
> That's essentially the solution the Progressive Policy Institute has
recommended to the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce in its paper
"Internet Taxation: A Software Solution" (Available PPI's site:
http://www.dlcppi.org/texts/tech/internettax.htm.  Also available on the
Advisory Commission's site: http://www.ecommercecommission.org/library.htm,
currently listed as #66, by Atkinson, et. Al.).
> We've heard from some who say they don't believe it could be done, and
some who say they're sure it could be done.
> Interested in any comments.
>
> Randolph Court
> Technology Policy Analyst
> Progressive Policy Institute
> I:  www.dlcppi.org
> p: (202) 608-1227
> f:  (202) 544-5014
> e: rcourt () dlcppi org




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