There has been much chatter about the Internet Sales Tax Bill. The actual name is Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013. It is scheduled for a U.S. Senate vote on May 6. It is a short and concise bill.
First, of all it is a states rights bill. It gives the authority to the states whether to collect or not. Secondly, as long as you do not sell more than $1,000,000.00 you are exempt.
Why all the gnashing of teeth? Read about the bill, here.
This type bill would be the foundation for a transaction tax on all of your electronic transactions, i.e., your withdrawal from an ATM, your presentation of a credit card to make a payment or to pay at the pump, or a an ebay/paypal transaction were you are buying something online. Governments’ thirst for more and more money from the citizenry has got to stop, we are taxed all day long at all we do and it has got to stop. Once the internet is savaged by government taxes, there is no stopping them or turning back.
Why Lamar Alexander feels the need to push for the advent of more taxes is well beyond me, it’s not leveling the playing field, the internet online tax is merely a revenue stream for government and the sooner we get this clown out of the U.S. Senate, the better off the citizens of Tennessee will be.
It’s just one more tax. What’s going to stop them from collecting TN sales taxes on vacation souvenirs you buy in other states than TN? They already try to tax purchases we make in other states.
Enough is enough!!
This is a bill to stop cheating. Right now the outdated law, which made sense when the internet was getting started, says the consumer is responsible for paying the sales tax. Which nobody does. This just says internet merchants, like all the others, have to collect and remit the tax. It excludes people doing less than $1m a year, so it doesn’t hurt small business or people making a living on ebay.
Right now people go into local stores (you know, the ones that pay taxes, support ball teams, give to United Way etc.) shop, take a picture of the product, the size etc. and go buy it on the internet to avoid the tax.
This just gives the little guy equal treatment. Government shouldn’t put anyone at a disadvantage…or advantage. Treat everyone the same. Telling one business (online) you don’t have to pay and telling another (bricks and mortar) they do is unfair.
Disclosure: I was retained to work on this issue when TN was giving Amazon an eternal pass on the sales tax. That policy was changed, effective next January.
I haven’t been paid to work on this issue since that policy change…but I was earlier.
I buy off the Internet because it is 1) convienent 2) you can usually see a greater variety of merchandise and prices using the Internet instead of going to one store, unless you’re willing to drive all over town, and 3) less time consuming and less gas consuming. Plus, it is not unfair the “brick and mortar” shops have to pay sales taxes to presumably support the schools the workers’ children attend or the services they use as citizens of a county or state.
The market will inevitably move toward the technology that makes it easier and better for the consumer. Times change. New taxes won’t stop that from happening.