Looks like we dodged 1 Bullit on Internet Sales Tax

[Gale Hawkins]

Cat_Driver waste does not equal 'destroy'. Yes the part that was borrowed we now have to pay back but cars, homes, educations, etc were paid for by those wasted tax dollars. The money did not go away. It just got redistributed but take not to you.

 

[dave1949]

The whole tax system is a mess. Internet sales taxes are just another example of that.

 

[Pops15]

What you fail to realize is cities, counties and states have already raised other taxes to make up for the "lost" revenue from internet sales.
If they create an internet sales tax it will be an additional tax on top of the other taxes they've already raised. I'm sure they'll still spend more than they take in no matter whether they create a new tax or not.
Aczlan brought up some important points. One being who would get the internet sales tax money? A good argument could be made that the store's area should get the sales tax money for the reasons he stated.

National sales tax? Are you talking about using it to replace the federal income tax? Or are you talking about yet another tax?

Many MA residents shop in NH where there is no sales tax. MA residents are expected to pay MA tax on purchases made in NH. MA goes so far as to send tax agents to NH to record license plate numbers on MA cars in the parking lots of NH malls.

I live in IL. We sometimes buy things in Indiana. We are charged IN sales tax on those purchases. We also have to pay IL sales tax on the items we buy in IN.

The waste Cat Driver listed is just the tip of the iceburg. There shouldn't be any talk of raising or creating new taxes until they eliminate waste. Give them a $1 and they spend $3. Give them $3 and they'll spend $10.

 

[forgeblast]

National sales tax? Are you talking about using it to replace the federal income tax? Or are you talking about yet another tax?


I would be in favor of that. Removing the income tax for a flat across the board tax. Limited by the amout it could ever be raised, with a the division of % to various departments/programs being clearly stated. Ie 25-30% of the money raised for say military spending. The reason being that Everyone, who lives, shops and buys in America helps support it. If the money is not there they dont get to spend it.

 

[TCJatko]

As others have stated, the more government gets, the more it spends. Please, no new taxes.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I think that this internet sales tax is going to happen eventually...
I understand that local brick and mortar businesses lose business to internet companies due to higher operating costs...
And I understand that the state and local governments are losing local sales tax dollars...
But...
I thought that was the way capitalism works???
The market has changed...
Local businesses must now compete with business from all over the world...
If I want a specific car, truck, motor coach, boat, etc...
I don't have to go to the local dealer anymore...
I go to the internet and check prices...
That is how I verify the market...
I just wonder when they are gonna want to tax sales from Craigslist and flea markets...
Oh wait...
I think you are supposed to report that to the state and pay the tax...
On something that has already been taxed one or two times...
I just wish we had a law that stated that the government could only tax you 1 time on your money...
Never will happen...
We are too socialistic...

 

[sdkubota]

What a great idea...the government is only allowed to tax an item, any item, one time during the production, distribution, or sale. Following that taxation, the item can be sold, traded, bartered, or given away tax free. Should the government violate this law, it must pay the person unjustly taxed 100 times the amount.

 

[dave1949]

A national sales tax would save money even if it raised the same amount of revenue as the current patchwork of sales taxes. It would permit streamlining and simplifying a lot of back office processing which would lower the burden of complying with taxes by locality. If it replaced income taxes, it would eliminate even more overhead.

Sales taxes are basically consumption taxes. I think if consumption taxes were high enough to replace income taxes, it would result is some major shifts in purchasing decisions.

Theoretically, if a national sales tax were collected at the state level, some percentage of it would remain with the state to do whatever with according to individual state laws, and some percentage, or perhaps better, a per-capita amount, would be remitted to the federal government.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

To know the future on this subject all one has to do is look at western Europe model today. That track is already set in concrete and there will be nothing that will change that track short of time being no more.

 

[Pops15]

Many brick and mortar stores offer online sales. Those that do have adapted to the current market.

I like the idea that an item could only be taxed once.
In many states (IL being one of them) vintage car owners are the target of the tax man. There are people that have owned a vintage car for 20 or 30 years that are now having to pay sales tax on the current value! In some cases they have to pay based on a much higher value than what the car is actually worth. Someone with taxing authority watched the Barrett-Jackson auctions and decided to do a money grab.

The idea that a national sales tax would replace all of the existing sales taxes won't work. There are too many different sales tax rates for a flat national rate to work. A national sales tax might be able to replace the federal income tax. If that were to happen they should exempt food and medicine or at least tax them at a lower rate.

Dave raised an interesting point. If a national sales tax replaced the income tax there would be some serious changes in buying habits. Since we would have the money in hand that used to be withheld from paychecks it would likely make people think more about what they purchase and possibly entice them to save more money.

It doesn't really matter what they do if they don't get a handle on spending.

Gale, unfortunately you're probably right that we won't be able to stop heading toward the European model. Generally speaking public education, higher education, and the media are pushing that agenda.

If the feds stopped trying to manipulate the market (get rid of subsidies, bailouts,etc) think how much money we would have to spend. The free market system is a wonderful thing. They should let it work.