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White House Endorses Online Sales Tax

I expected it to go on forever and for me and Oregonians it may. Even so, this will hurt some online retailers and it won't bring any more business to brick and mortar stores. In fact, I can see it driving even more business off shore. It's a stupid move at a terrible time. But hey, enjoy paying extra.

California implemented forced-sales tax from online purchases a couple years ago and I don't think it's made a dent in my willingness to shop online. The internet is unmatched for its variety and convenience and that's unlikely to change soon.
 
California implemented forced-sales tax from online purchases a couple years ago and I don't think it's made a dent in my willingness to shop online. The internet is unmatched for its variety and convenience and that's unlikely to change soon.

Many of these on-line companies will probably lose the foreign markets because the added tax, as well as shipping, just makes it more prohibitive. It wont make much difference for Americans.
 
No, that is exactly the opposite of my point.

I know, and I don't understand it. It sounds to me like you're saying that between the past (mail order) and the present (internet shopping) it's a wash even though the internet has no sales tax, and that simply doesn't make any sense. And if you're comparing internet shopping to store shopping, then for the sake of this thread that makes even less sense.
 
California implemented forced-sales tax from online purchases a couple years ago and I don't think it's made a dent in my willingness to shop online. The internet is unmatched for its variety and convenience and that's unlikely to change soon.

Yeah, and are businesses flocking to or from California? And at what point will you say enough to CA's insane sales tax environment?
 
The internet sales tax makes perfect sense. If it were up to me, it would be on every commercial transaction.

Completely agree. Should have been done a long time ago. I heard Rush Limbaugh this morning calling it a tax on small business. I completely disagree with that. Individual states are losing hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue by their citizens doing business with retailers on line who aren't required to collect state sales tax. We can hardly afford it.

I probably spend $4,000 a year (roughly) in online purchases. Most of them aren't taxed. My state is losing plenty of revenue. Where it gets tricky and burdensome is when there's a local tax imposed. If internet retailers are expected to file 9,600 returns to collect and pay these taxes, then it's ridiculous. But a flat state sales tax? I think it should have been put in place a long time ago.
 
Yeah, and are businesses flocking to or from California? And at what point will you say enough to CA's insane sales tax environment?

I've actually been at that point for a while. I run my own small business and this state is incredibly brutal, punitive, and just plain petty to businesses of all ilks. Unfortunately there are other considerations for why I continue to be here, though I'd love to be somewhere else like maybe Oregon or Colorado perhaps.

Anyway, per this thread that may be moot since if internet sales tax is applied in all fifty states there won't be a safe haven.
 
If you're old enough to have been purchasing online for a good number of years, give thanks for how much money you've saved to this point.

Why should I be thankful?

It's my money. I worked for it. Not them.
 
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Completely agree. Should have been done a long time ago. I heard Rush Limbaugh this morning calling it a tax on small business. I completely disagree with that. Individual states are losing hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue by their citizens doing business with retailers on line who aren't required to collect state sales tax. We can hardly afford it.

I probably spend $4,000 a year (roughly) in online purchases. Most of them aren't taxed. My state is losing plenty of revenue. Where it gets tricky and burdensome is when there's a local tax imposed. If internet retailers are expected to file 9,600 returns to collect and pay these taxes, then it's ridiculous. But a flat state sales tax? I think it should have been put in place a long time ago.

My understanding is that it would work like the estate tax---there would be a federal collections component that would then distribute the funds to the respective states based on where the transaction took place. Basically, unless you are a small time ebay seller you would just need to collect the tax as part of all your transactions to make sure that you had the funds to pay the taxes. The government doesn't mind if you collect too much--not collecting enough is what would kill your business.
 
Why should I be thankful?

It's my money. I worked for it. Not them.

A nice thought, but if you want to benefit from the services of government you gotta cough up.
 
A nice thought, but if you want to benefit from the services of government you gotta cough up.

What new benefit or service am I getting from this new tax?

As near as I can tell the only ones who benefit are the politicians who spend the taxes.
 
What new benefit or service am I getting from this new tax?

As near as I can tell the only ones who benefit are the politicians who spend the taxes.

The government needs your money to run the country. I of course disagree with how an awful lot of those funds are directed, but them's the breaks.
 
Long before the internet, we were paying for shipping AND sales tax. There was no free ride before the internet -- the internet was the free ride.
If you were old enough to have ordered through catalogs, you'd know how wrong you are about no "free ride" before the internet.
 
The White House endorses a tax? Well, color me shocked.

It they could come up with a way, they'd tax you for the air you breathe. They'd tax you for the steps you walk. They'd tax you for each word you spoke.



Tax bills are "porn" to the government.
 
how could anyone find a debate as predictable as the one above anything but boring

that is, you're kinda missing the big picture

which is the portrait of a disappearing president who can't talk about guns, can't discuss women's issues, can't go gay marriage or global warming...

he can't talk about terrorism

but, yes, it is true---yesterday the white house got seriously spanked over this sequester leveraging at the airports

this punishment of the public, this pointed attempted to make em pay

today: Democrats blink first on aviation cuts - Kathryn A. Wolfe and Burgess Everett - POLITICO.com

politico reports a bipartisan revolt against the administration which refuses to exercise executive discretion to manage a shortfall...

in other words, they found the money after all

in other words, he was bluffing all along

and once more exposed as so greedy for green that he'll throw just about anything

but the point is---there's nothing left for him to say, nowhere safe for him to go

except tax

and NOT tax the rich

he will go after, and increasingly be seen to go after, the middle class

who pays the bulk of internet sales taxes?
 
Anywhere and anytime they can tax, they will. The monster wants more money.

You do realize that sales taxes are collected by the states, not the federal government. This is just closing a loophole. Companies that do business in a particular state have a duty to collect sales tax on behalf of the state in which they do business. Companies are arguing they aren't doing business in states that they have no employees or offices. They are arguing these are casual sales. This is a sham.

Surely you want the government to close tax loopholes, such as this, before they consider raising taxes.
 
While I understand the motive, this will be a total disaster for online merchants as there are tens of thousands of taxing jurisdictions and they tend to be extreme!

For example, when my wife was in business she has to report (only) local and state sales for sales tax for her online sales. If she was 1 day late, there was an automatic $50 fine. Even if the tax due was $3. And, virtually every month they declared she had been late - when she never was - so would be on the phone for at least an hour and having to send and resent her proof. Multiply that by a couple thousand if it was nationwide - plus she would need probably 20,000 reporting forms on file to go thru each month.

UNLESS the law creates ONE central reporting and payment method for ALL sales taxes nationwide, this will be a real disaster.

Any state that wants to take advantage of this law is required to comply with the Simplified Sales and Usage Tax Agreement, which addresses your concerns.

And sales taxes do not have to be reported daily. No ever. Not anywhere.
 
Completely agree. Should have been done a long time ago. I heard Rush Limbaugh this morning calling it a tax on small business. I completely disagree with that. Individual states are losing hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue by their citizens doing business with retailers on line who aren't required to collect state sales tax. We can hardly afford it.

I probably spend $4,000 a year (roughly) in online purchases. Most of them aren't taxed. My state is losing plenty of revenue. Where it gets tricky and burdensome is when there's a local tax imposed. If internet retailers are expected to file 9,600 returns to collect and pay these taxes, then it's ridiculous. But a flat state sales tax? I think it should have been put in place a long time ago.

No, the taxes are reported to the states and the states distribute it to their localities.

And the filing can be done by computer, which online businesses have
 
Of course they support it. All they are about is getting more money to themselves and their cronies in the states.

And this whole issue of 'online places' getting 'an advantage' is utter nonsense that continues to be propagated by the tax and tax more crowd.

This bill results in the feds collecting exactly $0.00 in additional tax revenues
 
This is a sham.

No, the sham is people that actually believe the feds have the power to make companies in one state do work for other states, in terms of collecting and sending in sales taxes. As well as allowing one state to audit companies in other states. It's all about government greed, nothing more.
 
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