States Ask Help Collecting Internet Sales Taxes

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Attention politicians: Please feel free to continue your push for internet taxes while your constituents exercise their right to vote you out of office. :D

More than 21 states have simplified how they collect taxes in hopes of recovering an estimated $20 billion in sales taxes that go uncollected by out-of-state online merchants every year. But the nation's governors say they still need help from Congress.
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All of these internet taxes are owed to the states already. No one is asking for new taxes. The governors are just asking for a simplified way to collect them.

It may not be very popular, but it is the right thing to do.
 
It's gonna happen. There's no stopping this train. States (all of them) are broke, and the bullseye is squarely on this.
 
I wonder if we'll see TPB-like plans to launch drone-servers over international waters, so the transaction takes place in non-tax territory.
 
I like Amazon's approach, I wouldn't mind paying the relatively low Virginia tax for same/next day shipment. Anything to stick it to BBY(which I worked for, for a number of years!) :cool:
 
TechLarry said:
It's gonna happen. There's no stopping this train. States (all of them) are broke, and the bullseye is squarely on this.
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You are probably right.....except not all states are broke. I come from a state that has NO state tax, no sales tax and they pay every member of your family a dividend every year for living there. :cool:

God forbid if states had to live within their means, none of this would even be an issue. When is the last time you heard ANY politician talk about cutting spending? Federal, state and local governments need to do like everyone else and live within their means.

SilverSliver said:
The states need more income so they can piss more away.
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QFMFT! :D
 
I always considered state tax on goods purchased from another state, to fall under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, as a state is levying a tax on goods from another state.
 
SilverSliver said:
The states need more income so they can piss more away.
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Piss more away on...on things like broke and understaffed fire departments fighting large fires in drought ridden areas...or cops...or roads that are falling apart.
 
Skripka said:
Piss more away on...on things like broke and understaffed fire departments fighting large fires in drought ridden areas...or cops...or roads that are falling apart.
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Fire departments, roads, police and education are the last things that get any money. Have to save most of the money for tax incentives for companies that are associated with state and local politicians.
 
Skripka said:
Piss more away on...on things like broke and understaffed fire departments fighting large fires in drought ridden areas...or cops...or roads that are falling apart.
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Nobody's debating on the need for repairs and paying government employees. The waste is paying for things the government doesn't need, like more tanks and guns and wars.
 
Steve said:
I come from a state that has NO state tax, no sales tax and they pay every member of your family a dividend every year for living there.
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You come from a state that gets $1.84 in federal dollars back for every federal dollar paid. As someone from a state that is a net payer of federal taxes (and who has to pay income and sales taxes), you're welcome.
 
Skripka said:
Piss more away on...on things like broke and understaffed fire departments fighting large fires in drought ridden areas...or cops...or roads that are falling apart.
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Cops dont do much. Roads are always broke. The only real worth while thing is the Fire Dept.
 
Cataulin said:
Cops dont do much. Roads are always broke. The only real worth while thing is the Fire Dept.
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Outside of speed traps, I would say cops are quite worth while. Speak for your own county with road conditions, in Northern VA, they are pretty dam nice. I would 100% agree than the FIre Dept. is worth every penny they get. :)
 
Steve said:
You are probably right.....except not all states are broke. I come from a state that has NO state tax, no sales tax and they pay every member of your family a dividend every year for living there. :cool:

God forbid if states had to live within their means, none of this would even be an issue. When is the last time you heard ANY politician talk about cutting spending? Federal, state and local governments need to do like everyone else and live within their means.

QFMFT! :D
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It helps to be swimming in oil revenue, doesn't it?
 
SilverSliver said:
Fire departments, roads, police and education are the last things that get any money. Have to save most of the money for tax incentives for companies that are associated with state and local politicians.
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Yeah this...there are roads all over my state (GA) that are absolute shit and have been for years now. I wouldn't be surprised if less than 1% of their state budget is for roads and the like.

I hate saying "fuck taxes" but I just totally dislike giving money to someone that's going to blow it on shit that we don't need and that does NO GOOD FOR THE GREATER GOOD.

Also, if online stores now have to charge sales tax then I'll just start going to Frys or MicroCenter.
 
eggrock said:
It helps to be swimming in oil revenue, doesn't it?
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I was responding to a statement that ALL states were broke.


Anyhow...the point is, government needs to live within its means. Taxing its citizens at every turn is just crazy (or that fact that we allow it).
 
snowcat said:
It may not be very popular, but it is the right thing to do.
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The right thing to do is to act on the will of the American people, which is their job description as representatives. If its not popular with the American people, it is by definition the wrong thing to do.
 
Ducman69 said:
The right thing to do is to act on the will of the American people, which is their job description as representatives. If its not popular with the American people, it is by definition the wrong thing to do.
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Eh...the will of the American People can be at best fickle and at worst an unreasonable mob out for blood. As examples by the Zimmerman fiasco, or any number of other topics.
 
PunditGuy said:
You come from a state that gets $1.84 in federal dollars back for every federal dollar paid. As someone from a state that is a net payer of federal taxes (and who has to pay income and sales taxes), you're welcome.
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Amen. Damn bum states always leeching my federal dollars!
 
Metrocall said:
I felt bad even flying over Texas, let alone living there. :eek:
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I agree with this. I haven't lived there in a few years, but I have no idea how they even compute taxes with the mess of an infrastructure there. Office automation technology would be of vast benefit to them if they could figure out how to provide reliable power to modern electronics and build structures that would protect them properly from the elements.
 
Skripka said:
Piss more away on...on things like broke and understaffed fire departments fighting large fires in drought ridden areas...or cops...or roads that are falling apart.
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Or like 6 figure pensions (90% or your best paid year), ipads for grade school kids, billions for trains to nowhere. etc.
 
Steve said:
I was responding to a statement that ALL states were broke.


Anyhow...the point is, government needs to live within its means. Taxing its citizens at every turn is just crazy (or that fact that we allow it).
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Do you think Alaska would still be able to live within its means, not collect taxes, and pay its residents a dividend if the rest of the country stopped subsidizing it? Alaska receives almost $14k more per capita in federal spending than it pays in taxes. Most of the states with the worst budget problems today also pay far more in federal taxes than they get back in federal spending.
 
Metrocall said:
Outside of speed traps, I would say cops are quite worth while. Speak for your own county with road conditions, in Northern VA, they are pretty dam nice. I would 100% agree than the FIre Dept. is worth every penny they get. :)
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Most cities could reduce the police force to 25% of what they have and see zero change in crime. In cities like chicago, houston, nyc, and LA the bulk majority of police are traffic cops that do zero to protect or serve, they just dish out fines at speed traps.
 
Nanan said:
Most cities could reduce the police force to 25% of what they have and see zero change in crime. In cities like chicago, houston, nyc, and LA the bulk majority of police are traffic cops that do zero to protect or serve, they just dish out fines at speed traps.
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Yup, they have to pay for those brand new chargers somehow!
 
TechLarry said:
It's gonna happen. There's no stopping this train. States (all of them) are broke, and the bullseye is squarely on this.
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unfortunately, after receiving the extra sales tax revenue, they will still remain broke.

They need to put some real bean counters in the gov't. Those guys, at least, know how to find random things to cut funding on.

Last I checked, gov't workers are the least efficient and most overpaid people.
 
dr.kevin said:
unfortunately, after receiving the extra sales tax revenue, they will still remain broke.

They need to put some real bean counters in the gov't. Those guys, at least, know how to find random things to cut funding on.

Last I checked, gov't workers are the least efficient and most overpaid people.
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Are the gov't workers overpaid, or are corporate wages by and large that crappy bearing in mind that wages for non-millionaires have been stagnant for about 30 years now while corporate profits over the same period have soared?
 
I support it.

Unlike Steve who likes to arouse anger (yeah, kind of drives the site but sad to say it), I'd vote for these politicians who demand that the law be followed and close the loopholes these guys have been using forever.
 
Know what's going on in my part of IL?

The same sections of interstates and certain state routes getting re-paved, year after year. Meanwhile, the rest of them, along with all the other untouched roads, look like the Hulk went for a jog on them.

Till that business gets sorted out, IL doesn't need more taxes. It needs to hire a construction crew that knows what a road should look like.
 
Sales tax is a bad idea anyway...
How about getting rid of sales tax and raising taxes through property taxes for example?
 
erexx said:
Sales tax is a bad idea anyway...
How about getting rid of sales tax and raising taxes through property taxes for example?
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that wouldn't work, because the people who rent wouldn't have to pay shit.
and it's the renters who tend to spend the most money on shit that would generate sales tax (being too broke to own a home as a result)

I've got a couple rental properties, and when I screen tenants, holy shit- They earn $50000 a year, and only have <$5000 in the bank; and no, it's not because they invested it somewhere else.
 
Ducman69 said:
The right thing to do is to act on the will of the American people, which is their job description as representatives. If its not popular with the American people, it is by definition the wrong thing to do.
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“Once the monkeys learn they can vote themselves bananas, they’ll never climb another tree.” Robert Heinlein

Don't want to get too much into a history lesson here, but you're pretty much describing a direct democracy, which the founding fathers were dreadfully scared of. Instead, America is a republic with representatives to do what's best for the country, not bend to every ebb and flow that the populace petitions. Yes, that means sometimes it will be against the wishes of the people and that's what elections are for. If politicians merely existed to vote based on constituency polling than there would be absolutely no use for them.
 
erexx said:
Sales tax is a bad idea anyway...
How about getting rid of sales tax and raising taxes through property taxes for example?
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Terrible idea. A sales tax is a consumption tax. As the name implies, consumption taxes only affect you when you choose to consume. Consumption taxes also incentivize saving and investing (which America is absolutely terrible at because . . . oh ya, those things are taxed).

Property taxes are the worst kind of taxes. You owe them every year . . . forever. It doesn't matter what your salary is, how much money you spend, how much you make through investments, or anything else. Property taxes are like if you had to pay sales tax on your car every year you owned it, even if it just sat in the garage. Property taxes are the eternal leech placed upon you merely for owning something.
 
Steve said:
When is the last time you heard ANY politician talk about cutting spending?
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Answer: During the presidential debates. I kind of wish Newt would have gotten the nomination because of that.
 
modulus said:
Terrible idea. A sales tax is a consumption tax. As the name implies, consumption taxes only affect you when you choose to consume. Consumption taxes also incentivize saving and investing (which America is absolutely terrible at because . . . oh ya, those things are taxed).

Property taxes are the worst kind of taxes. You owe them every year . . . forever. It doesn't matter what your salary is, how much money you spend, how much you make through investments, or anything else. Property taxes are like if you had to pay sales tax on your car every year you owned it, even if it just sat in the garage. Property taxes are the eternal leech placed upon you merely for owning something.
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Property taxes should go away. I am all for consumption tax on everything and no other taxes period.
 
Steve said:
Anyhow...the point is, government needs to live within its means. Taxing its citizens at every turn is just crazy (or that fact that we allow it).
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^THIS!
We're expected to, but gov't seems to have forgotten that they're supposed to lead by example. It's no wonder so many are in people are overextended and the economy's in the crapper.

And budgets need an overhaul. They're given X amount, and if they don't spend it they get less the next year, so they piss it away on stupid crap so they won't lose out the next year. What backwards thinking moron came up with that idiocy? Gov't should be run like a business, and most are bankrupt...time to liquidate and shut down the old to make way for the new.

Back on topic, internet tax will definitely kill a lot of online sales, and a lot of us don't have Fry's or Micro Center, etc. anywhere near us, if in our state at all, so we'll get the screws put to us no matter what.

Yes, I know you're supposed to pay taxes in your state, but if you buy something while out of state, you're supposed to pay taxes on it to your state as well. How assinine is that? Yeah, just double my taxes on it thank you. It's bad enough we're taxed when we make it, but to be taxed again when we spend it is insulting. If you ask me it's double dipping.

Too bad we can't tax the gov't for stupidity.
 
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