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Has anyone been following this?

 

Here's a link to yesterday's Diane Rehm Show: http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-04-25/debate-over-taxing-internet-sales/transcript

 

In a nutshell, all internet sellers would be required to collect state sales tax with an exception for anyone with less than 1 million in sales. Amazon is for this. Ebay wants the exemption to be raised to 10 million. States would have to provide free software that if used would keep businesses from being audited.

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I vastly prefer paying it at the point of purchase. Otherwise I keep track and pay with my state taxes, which is a hassle. I am at the point where, all things being equal, I pick the company that collects tax. I am that sick of trying to keep track of everything.

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If the state provided software follows form, it will be a disaster for most businesses.

 

Would the state where the business is located get the tax or the state where the purchaser lives?

 

 

I think that's been part of the debate. And when you are talking about on-line, does the location mean where the item is shipped from or where the server that took your order is located? I think the idea is to have taxes go to the state where the person lives though. In many states one is supposed to be claiming these purchases and paying taxes via their state income tax. It's just that a lot of people aren't doing that. Heck, I didn't do that. That's way too much work!

 

As it is now, NY gets the on-line taxes I pay irregardless of where the physical business is.

 

 

This is not a point of debate, sales tax is paid by the buyer so the tax goes to the buyer's location. This is why up until now business have not been mandated to collect sales tax for out of state buyers because there are too many locations.

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I vastly prefer paying it at the point of purchase. Otherwise I keep track and pay with my state taxes, which is a hassle. I am at the point where, all things being equal, I pick the company that collects tax. I am that sick of trying to keep track of everything.

 

 

Near as I can tell the only ones who collect sales tax are those who have a physical location in your state. Now, a lot of big online retailers have that: Barnes and Noble and Lands End through their retail stores and so forth.

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If the state provided software follows form, it will be a disaster for most businesses.

 

 

 

Jump down to 10:48 in the transcript and read what caller Josh says about this. I tend to think you might be right, but his direct experience with one state says otherwise.

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Most states require you to pay the tax and if you did not pay at the point of purchase you are supposed to pay when you file your yearly tax forms. It's a pain to keep track. It's easier now that most of the businesses I deal with online collect at the point of purchase.

 

Most people have ignored the fact that they were supposed to keep track and pay for years. Requiring sellers to collect, just makes consumers do what they were already legally required to do, but often were not doing.

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It is a point of debate. If I go to another state and buy something at a store they aren't going to send the sale's tax I paid to NY.

 

 

If I drive across state lines and make a purchase, I pay that state's sales tax. I am paying a sales tax at the point of purchase.

 

If I make a purchase online, I am expected to keep track and pay the sales tax on online purchases on my own (when I file my state tax). If online retailers are required to collect the sales tax it's less of a headache for me to keep track of.

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Near as I can tell the only ones who collect sales tax are those who have a physical location in your state. Now, a lot of big online retailers have that: Barnes and Noble and Lands End through their retail stores and so forth.

 

So, as I said, if I have a choice between a roughly equally priced book at Barnes & Noble, which collects state tax, and Amazon, which does not, I honestly prefer B&N to save myself the hassle.

 

I deal with the hassle when making smaller purchases, like, say, some item from a seller on Etsy. But for repeated purchases that add up, I prefer not having to deal with the tax later.

 

On the other hand, a smaller number of big purchases from an out of state retailer also are easy to remember, but it's the large number of smallish purchases that are the big pain to total up at the end of the year.

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I would like to not have to bother with it, honestly. It shouldn't be up to me to keep track of that.

 

Does anyone remember the days of catalog/phone orders? Taxes were collected for only a few states and I don't remember having to bother keeping track of what I ordered. Why the push now? Is it just the dollar signs states are seeing?

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I would like to not have to bother with it, honestly. It shouldn't be up to me to keep track of that.

 

Does anyone remember the days of catalog/phone orders? Taxes were collected for only a few states and I don't remember having to bother keeping track of what I ordered. Why the push now? Is it just the dollar signs states are seeing?

 

 

 

BUT you were supposed to keep track of your catalogue orders waaaay back then. You just got away with not paying. (I started paying because my CPA sister made sure I did :001_smile: . I actually had not known I was supposed to until she corrected so many years ago) The states have always had trouble collecting from the consumer on these transactions so this is a way for them to enforce payment. The fact that you should pay is not new. The fact that there will be some enforcement to actually paying is what is new.

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I think it's not only the dollar signs the states are seeing, but a way to help level the playing field for local businesses who have no choice but to collect state and local taxes from customers at the time of purchase.

 

 

Oh, I agree that we should be paying taxes on our purchases, but I just disagree with the buyer having to keep track of it all. :tongue_smilie: I'm all for paying my fair share, but it shouldn't be difficult in that I have to keep track of everything I buy online.

 

BUT you were supposed to keep track of your catalogue orders waaaay back then. You just got away with not paying. (I started paying because my CPA sister made sure I did :001_smile: . I actually had not known I was supposed to until she corrected so many years ago) The states have always had trouble collecting from the consumer on these transactions so this is a way for them to enforce payment. The fact that you should pay is not new. The fact that there will be some enforcement to actually paying is what is new.

 

 

Oh, wow, that's interesting. It has been many years since the days of 'catalog' ordering, but I honestly don't remember having to report that. I also know that it was very, very rare for me to buy through a catalog, as I don't order clothes, and most of my catalog stuff was household items that came from JC Penney so I paid taxes on that anyway. I don't even remember a spot on the forms to put sales tax info. I'm just glad Amazon makes it relatively easy to go back through the year and list my purchases so all I have to do is add them up and fill in a total!

 

Oh well, my state still comes out way ahead as I discovered that for at least 10 years I had been grossly (grossly!) underestimating my thrift store donations, so I under-deducted (is that a word?) by a large amount!!

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I'm wondering about what effect this will have on some of the smaller curriculum providers. I read something a few days ago about how much paperwork is required just when a vendor collects sales tax during a convention in a state. Multiply that by many conventions and now, if this legislation passes, the paperwork involved could be overwhelming for some of the smaller vendors.

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If I drive across state lines and make a purchase, I pay that state's sales tax. I am paying a sales tax at the point of purchase.

 

 

What happens if you drive across state lines and make a purchase in a state with no sales tax? For example we went on a road trip northwards to Oregon. My mum (foreigner) bought some sovenirs for my kids. I was wondering whether I have to pay use tax to California in that case if I were the purchaser.

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What happens if you drive across state lines and make a purchase in a state with no sales tax? For example we went on a road trip northwards to Oregon. My mum (foreigner) bought some sovenirs for my kids. I was wondering whether I have to pay use tax to California in that case if I were the purchaser.

I do not think one needs to pay sales tax on gifts received.

 

In my state, one is supposed to pay tax on all purchases made online or by catalog, OR when one goes to another location (including another country!) that does not collect AT LEAST as much as the sales tax is in my state. So if I went on vacation and paid sales tax there, I would not need to pay sales tax. If I went to a state with no sales tax, I would.

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I already live in the state where Amazon is located, so regardless of this law, it won't affect me much. I rarely purchase from somewhere that doesn't have a business prescence here, simply because so many do (and because I order so much from Amazon anyways!).

 

I think it does make sense for the tax to go to the buyer's state. That's how it works when you go to a store. And most people don't purchase out of state on a regular basis (so I don't think the taxes there are that big of a deal), but a lot do purchase online on a regular basis.

 

It'll be interesting to see what happens with all of this.

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I would like to not have to bother with it, honestly. It shouldn't be up to me to keep track of that. Does anyone remember the days of catalog/phone orders? Taxes were collected for only a few states and I don't remember having to bother keeping track of what I ordered. Why the push now? Is it just the dollar signs states are seeing?
I think it's not only the dollar signs the states are seeing, but a way to help level the playing field for local businesses who have no choice but to collect state and local taxes from customers at the time of purchase.
BUT you were supposed to keep track of your catalogue orders waaaay back then. You just got away with not paying. (I started paying because my CPA sister made sure I did :001_smile: . I actually had not known I was supposed to until she corrected so many years ago) The states have always had trouble collecting from the consumer on these transactions so this is a way for them to enforce payment. The fact that you should pay is not new. The fact that there will be some enforcement to actually paying is what is new.

 

Yes, I do think you were always supposed to pay even on catalog orders, but until recently our state didn't really say that to tax payers in any clear way. In the last two decades they added a line to the state income tax form where you can do one of two things either pay exactly what you owe (backed up by your sales receipts) or pay an estimate based on your income. We did the first for a while but our tax prep person preferred the second and since this is easier on me, that's what we do now.

 

I think the big point is most states don't collect this from most people at all.

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I think it's not only the dollar signs the states are seeing, but a way to help level the playing field for local businesses who have no choice but to collect state and local taxes from customers at the time of purchase.

 

 

Yes this is another point in the story and for the bill in question, not just lost tax revenue but hurting local businesses.

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I'm wondering about what effect this will have on some of the smaller curriculum providers. I read something a few days ago about how much paperwork is required just when a vendor collects sales tax during a convention in a state. Multiply that by many conventions and now, if this legislation passes, the paperwork involved could be overwhelming for some of the smaller vendors.

 

 

As my OP says the current cap to be excused from doing this is one million in sales. Ebay is trying to get that raised to ten million.

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Of course the point is moot because for most on-line purchases I've been taxed because NY requires it. And what really stinks is that I'm taxed at a higher rate than what I'm taxed locally. It hasn't stopped me from buying on-line though. There are so many things I buy on-line that I can't find in any store around here.

 

 

My state passed laws like that too, but the only thing that happened was Amazon pulled out of having affiliates in our state. My state still has no authority to collect local sales tax on online orders so Amazon doesn't pay it.

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I think it does make sense for the tax to go to the buyer's state. That's how it works when you go to a store. And most people don't purchase out of state on a regular basis (so I don't think the taxes there are that big of a deal), but a lot do purchase online on a regular basis.

 

It'll be interesting to see what happens with all of this.

 

 

 

There are probably more people who spend money out of state than you might think. I live in Illinois but work in Wisconsin, and spend a good bit in WIsconsin and Iowa. Wisconsin has no food tax but Illinois wants me to track how much food I buy out of state and pay the 1% food tax to Illinois. They also want me to track what I spend on vacation- if I buy a piece of jewelry or a t-shirt on vacation, they want me to pay tax. If where I vacation doesn't tax as much as Illinois, I am expected to pay the difference to Illinois.

 

It's too difficult to track everything I buy out of state and calculate where the tax rate is high enough to negate Illinois tax. So they have a handy chart that is based on your income- they suggest you use that if you don't track your spending.

 

I am not on board with paying Illinois tax on items I buy while on vacation. Why is Illinois entitled to that money?

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What does this mean for someone who lives in a state that does not have a sales tax? Would we not be required to pay online either?

 

Learned something startling from your post. There really are five states that collect sales tax on nothing, or on limited goods/services. Wow!

 

Amazon is required to collect sales tax on items shipped to any state in which they have a brick-and-mortar presence. I don't doubt that they would want other companies to be hit with regulation.

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For those wondering about states with no sales tax...

 

Oregon is just 10 minutes that :auto: way from me. lol Oregon has an 11% state tax that is taken from wages (not taking deductions etc in to account). So, a person who works in Oregon, has already paid the state tax. There is no general sales tax in Oregon.

 

I live just over the border in Washington. I have no state tax, but I pay an approximate 9% sales tax on taxable items (variable between areas). Durable goods are taxed, prepared food, carbonated drinks and some candy, etc. Regular food is not taxed.

 

If I go into Oregon and make purchases, I do not pay a sales tax. Once I cross back into Washington, I am supposed to go to the tax office an pay my fair share of sales tax on those items. The vast majority of people DO NOT do this. So, they are essentially shopping without paying any tax on those earnings

 

The opposite is true for anyone who works in Oregon and then shops in a state with sales tax. Oregonians pay Double tax on those items. They have already paid Oregon's state tax from their wages and then they pay the sales tax on top of it. A few states allow for Oregonians and other states with no sales tax, to show their ID and then not be charged a tax but it is only certain bordering states that allow it. Oregon's response to double tax is 'spend your money in Oregon, then you won't pay double tax' :0) .

 

For purchases like cars, taxation happens when registering a car (so you can't avoid it unless you don't register your car). I don't think the honor system would work too well there. I know I choked when I figured out that I just paid $3000 in sales tax on my new car. LOL I would have loved to not paid that tax bill!

 

Things can get expensive if you follow the state rules for families like ours who used to have a residence in Washington, but worked in Oregon. We paid Oregon income tax on our earnings AND were expected to pay sales tax on every eligible purchase because we resided in Washington. That totals about a 20% tax rate! When the issue is brought up to the states, they pretty much say pick a state and stick with it, or pay double. :glare:

 

 

Here is a map that shows information on each states taxes if you are interested.

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I already live in the state where Amazon is located, so regardless of this law, it won't affect me much. I rarely purchase from somewhere that doesn't have a business prescence here, simply because so many do (and because I order so much from Amazon anyways!).

 

I think it does make sense for the tax to go to the buyer's state. That's how it works when you go to a store. And most people don't purchase out of state on a regular basis (so I don't think the taxes there are that big of a deal), but a lot do purchase online on a regular basis.

 

It'll be interesting to see what happens with all of this.

 

 

LOL you must live in the middle of a large state. Millions of people make purchases accross state lines every day. Especially on the East coast (smaller states) where you might cross over a few state lines in one shopping trip. In my city, crossing border into another state is a daily occurance. Just in our city it is estimated that 20,000 people cross the state line between Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon for work each day. (Two cities on either side of a river). Not shopping, not schools, not travel...just for work. That is 140,000 crossings in a week! I would guess that the vast majority of those people make a purchase while there. A soda, a cup of coffee, or major purchases made on the way home or on lunch.

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What about if you go to a rummage sale in another state? No one's required to determine and pay in sales tax from those, I didn't think. A lot of ebay seems to me like an online rummage sale.

 

It does make sense to have the seller keeping track, however, considering they are tying it to how much the seller sells--the buyer would not know if they are dealing with a $100K seller or a $1M seller to then determine whether they are required to submit the taxes or not.

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LOL you must live in the middle of a large state. Millions of people make purchases accross state lines every day. Especially on the East coast (smaller states) where you might cross over a few state lines in one shopping trip. In my city, crossing border into another state is a daily occurance. Just in our city it is estimated that 20,000 people cross the state line between Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon for work each day. (Two cities on either side of a river). Not shopping, not schools, not travel...just for work. That is 140,000 crossings in a week! I would guess that the vast majority of those people make a purchase while there. A soda, a cup of coffee, or major purchases made on the way home or on lunch.

 

And before 9/11 a similar thing happened between Detroit and Canada! (I don't live up there anymore so I don't know what the whole passport thing did to between country traffic.)

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Ebay wants the exemption to be raised to 10 million. States would have to provide free software that if used would keep businesses from being audited.

 

 

10 million in sales? Ebay is being ridiculous (oh wait, they usually are).

 

When I was 3P selling on Amazon a few years ago a lot of us discussed them dropping the affiliates and were worried they'd drop us too over this issue. A number of 3P sellers own b&m stores or their own book companies, and they were all agreed that Amazon's techs could implement the sales tax into their billing system with only a few days of work. The only reason why they haven't is because they don't want to.

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10 million in sales? Ebay is being ridiculous (oh wait, they usually are).

 

Take a look at what caller Andy says at around 10:52 into the transcript.

 

 

ANDY

 

10:52:49

Hi. Good morning. I'm the owner of a small manufacture company and -- manufacturing company in Utica, N.Y. And I know a lot of people are probably cringing on your guests as, you know, it exempts businesses, 1 million or less or 10 million or less thinking, oh, he is crazy. That's a big business. It's not.

 

ANDY

 

10:53:07

Just to set up the infrastructure of a small manufacturing company with one person, just to stay in business with no employees just to keep things going, you have to do 250, $300,000 a year just to pay the basic expenses, product liability insurance to get the patents and to pay your rents for your facility and heating and everything else that goes with it. You have to do a tremendous amount of business manufacturing in the United States.

 

REHM

 

10:53:33

So, Andy, you think that charging the buyer tax would be too much of a burden for you?

 

ANDY

 

10:53:43

It's totally -- I'm totally against it. We have dealers in eight countries, OK? A lot of them sell on the Internet. There's a lot of expenses already there at the state are involved with selling in the Internet. The caller that called earlier that was upset about other companies selling products in his area and not paying tax, well, he can get on the Internet and sell products in other areas and not pay tax, you know, and make it a more even playing field. But having said that, the costs of doing business on the Internet are expensive. You've got to advertise in the Internet to even be seen.

 

 

'[/color]]When I was 3P selling on Amazon a few years ago a lot of us discussed them dropping the affiliates and were worried they'd drop us too over this issue. A number of 3P sellers own b&m stores or their own book companies, and they were all agreed that Amazon's techs could implement the sales tax into their billing system with only a few days of work. The only reason why they haven't is because they don't want to.

 

 

I don't know what 3P means.

 

Ebay does answer this several times in the transcript. Here's a quote from 10:31

 

No, Diane, that's really not it, and I think of that as like as if there's the technology tooth fairy out there who's going to solve everything. And eBay, great technology company, we help businesses deal with this issue. But I would ask Rachelle about the fact that big retailers who have this obligation, they have large teams of attorneys and large teams of accountants today. Software doesn't do it. Software's part of the answer.

 

But the thing that's different between the $3 million retailer who's selling online, and let's say you find a $3 million retailer who really doesn't use online at all, right now, both of them can only be sued by their state tax authority. They can only get a demand letter. They can only get audited. They can only be taken into court by that one state where they live. The big change here is that if this bill passes the way it is today, very, very small retailers will be able to face an audit, will be able to face a demand letter, will be able to face litigation from any state that goes after them...

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3P is third party sellers.

 

I don't understand what he is complaining about with expenses. Nobody is asking for a "hidden" tax, the sales tax is added on top of the total. It's no money out of their own pocket.

 

And yes, the technology is there. You meet it every time you shop at WalMart. Or even the corner snack shop. It's not some completely new alien concept.

 

And what is eBay doing comparing themselves to "big retailers" like they are some sort of underdog? :rolleyes:

 

The cost of doing business on the internet is expensive. Please. Go try that line with the family restaurant that needs to constantly pump money into their physical plant, and also do advertising on top of that.

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And yes, the technology is there. You meet it every time you shop at WalMart. Or even the corner snack shop. It's not some completely new alien concept.

 

And what is eBay doing comparing themselves to "big retailers" like they are some sort of underdog? :rolleyes:

 

 

Did you read the second thing I quoted about audits and tax lawyers? He's not really arguing about the technology aspect. He argues Ebay isn't the one who will get stuck being audited but the individual companies doing business with them (okay he does NOT argue that explicitly he just argues the companies that work through them will be audited.)

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Did you read the second thing I quoted about audits and tax lawyers? He's not really arguing about the technology aspect. He argues Ebay isn't the one who will get stuck being audited but the individual companies doing business with them (okay he does NOT argue that explicitly he just argues the companies that work through them will be audited.)

 

That's just strange. If they are the only ones handling the monetary transaction, which they are, since everyone must use PayPal, which is theirs, then it is only their own accounting that matters.

 

All they have to do is say that they will charge sales tax on the sale amount based on the buyers state of residence, and add that on to the paypal processing. Sure, some people will then try to build the price into the shipping fee, but many others will see that that's not worth the hassle to save 4-9%

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That's just strange. If they are the only ones handling the monetary transaction, which they are, since everyone must use PayPal, which is theirs, then it is only their own accounting that matters.

 

All they have to do is say that they will charge sales tax on the sale amount based on the buyers state of residence, and add that on to the paypal processing. Sure, some people will then try to build the price into the shipping fee, but many others will see that that's not worth the hassle to save 4-9%

 

If read the whole transcript, it will begin to emerge that ebay does not see themselves or their transactions in this way. They see themselves as the location of the rummage sale, they charge rent in terms of a % of sale but they are not the seller. Each seller is the seller. This may sound odd, but this is how most malls operate, the rent usually includes a % of sales as part of it. I certainly wouldn't expect the mall to deal with the store sales tax.

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I would like to not have to bother with it, honestly. It shouldn't be up to me to keep track of that.

 

Does anyone remember the days of catalog/phone orders? Taxes were collected for only a few states and I don't remember having to bother keeping track of what I ordered. Why the push now? Is it just the dollar signs states are seeing?

 

I think it's because internet orders are huge now, compared to catalog. And as a consequence physical stores are at a disadvantage. Also there are just so many things people order over the internet now, especially I think from Amazon. It seems to be about the only area in which the post office's business is booming, is delivering internet-ordered goods.

 

My state has a thing where if you have no clue, but did order something, there is an estimated thing based on your income. It's pretty conservative, like maybe $10 for every $25,000 of income, or less than that.

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If read the whole transcript, it will begin to emerge that ebay does not see themselves or their transactions in this way. They see themselves as the location of the rummage sale, they charge rent in terms of a % of sale but they are not the seller. Each seller is the seller. This may sound odd, but this is how most malls operate, the rent usually includes a % of sales as part of it. I certainly wouldn't expect the mall to deal with the store sales tax.

 

 

Yeah, eBay can think of itself however it wants. Can you tell I'm not fond of eBay? At all?

 

Bottom line is that on eBay eBay runs the cash register, through their own system which they call PayPal. Their own imaginings that they are some sort of ethereal garage sale notwithstanding, they are a business. Which is why they run multi-million dollar campus in countries around the globe.

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Yeah, eBay can think of itself however it wants. Can you tell I'm not fond of eBay? At all?

 

Bottom line is that on eBay eBay runs the cash register, through their own system which they call PayPal. Their own imaginings that they are some sort of ethereal garage sale notwithstanding, they are a business. Which is why they run multi-million dollar campus in countries around the globe.

 

 

This may all be true, but based on reading the transcript whatever law is being passed does not impact ebay this way or treat them this way.

 

If it did they wouldn't be arguing for the 10 million dollar exemption because like Amazon the probably do that in a minute. So I presume however the law is worded it puts the onus on the third party sellers. Since their business is third party sellers they are focused on that level because that is where the bill hits.

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This may all be true, but based on reading the transcript whatever law is being passed does not impact ebay this way or treat them this way.

 

If it did they wouldn't be arguing for the 10 million dollar exemption because like Amazon the probably do that in a minute. So I presume however the law is worded it puts the onus on the third party sellers. Since their business is third party sellers they are focused on that level because that is where the bill hits.

 

 

I don't think so. 3P sellers already sell on B&N, who collects sales tax. I've sold a few things on eBay (a while ago) and I never saw any money until it had been processed by eBay (PayPal) first (with their fees). I think there used to be a way to sidestep PayPal, but they've been pushing PayPal-Only for a while now.

 

I think this is a good overview of the crux of the issue: http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/the_fight_over_internet_sales.php?page=all

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I agree with those who say this is nothing new. Maine sends out a letter to residents periodically reminding them that the tax is called sales tax but it is in reality a use tax. If you use it in Maine, you have to pay tax on it. It is so bad I often wonder why they don't set up border crossing points and charge tax on household items of people who are moving here. I have heard that tax enforcement units will stop people they believe have gone over to New Hampshire to shop and make them pay tax on the items they find in the vehicle.

 

I pay the percentage on my forms every year. It is cheaper that way. I figure eventually they will want me to pay all of it. I'm not to concerned. Paying the use tax is still cheaper than driving any distance to purchase in state. If I lived in a thriving retail Mecca I'd not have to shop online.

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I don't think so. 3P sellers already sell on B&N, who collects sales tax. I've sold a few things on eBay (a while ago) and I never saw any money until it had been processed by eBay (PayPal) first (with their fees). I think there used to be a way to sidestep PayPal, but they've been pushing PayPal-Only for a while now.

 

I think this is a good overview of the crux of the issue: http://www.cjr.org/t...es.php?page=all

 

This article gives no new facts and to be honest her conclusion making process defies my ability to follow it. For instance read these two back to back paragraphs:

 

Meanwhile, New Hampshire’s brick-and-mortar retailers will bear no such burden. They will not be required to collect taxes on the many customers who drive across the Maine and Massachusetts borders to shop in New Hampshire

 

First, it’s just not true that this is a burden that doesn’t apply to bricks-and-mortar stores. Again, online tax collection has always applied to retailers like Barnes & Noble, which has a robust online presence and stores in all 50 states plus DC. As far as bricks-and-mortar stores in sales-tax-free states not collecting taxes on border crossers, this seems like a comparatively minor problem since the combined population of those five states is 2.5 percent of the total US.

 

The first paragraph is from the Wall Street Journal and the next is her conclusion. But her conclusion doesn't really follow good logic. First, she compares Barnes and Noble to one store in one state, not a good comparison at all when constucting a logical argument. From that she tries to say that local stores will have to collect taxes from all 50 states which is emphatically not true. If you sell only in one location, you have never and won't now have to collect taxes in all 50 states. It doesn't matter that Barnes and Noble does because they pretty much are in all 50 states (or at least all the states they collect sales tax for.)

 

My argument about Ebay on the other hand is clearer: If Ebay thought this was about them, they wouldn't be arguing for a 10 million dollar exemption because they still would not be exempt (their sales are too large). So why are they arguing except for the small 3P sellers they represent? I'd like to hear an answer to that question.

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LOL you must live in the middle of a large state. Millions of people make purchases accross state lines every day. Especially on the East coast (smaller states) where you might cross over a few state lines in one shopping trip. In my city, crossing border into another state is a daily occurance. Just in our city it is estimated that 20,000 people cross the state line between Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon for work each day. (Two cities on either side of a river). Not shopping, not schools, not travel...just for work. That is 140,000 crossings in a week! I would guess that the vast majority of those people make a purchase while there. A soda, a cup of coffee, or major purchases made on the way home or on lunch.

 

 

I'm in the Seattle area. Portland is 3 hours away (no sales tax oregon). The amount of gas it would take to not pay sales tax, well, usually not worth it. Now if I lived in Vancouver, WA, yeah, it's a 10 minute drive! And I bet at least 140k people in this area purchase something online every week (and probably more).

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