Vic Smith wrote:
On Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:57:41 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Peter wrote:
On 11/23/2011 6:52 AM, G. Morgan wrote:


**** 'em. I'm in Texas and will only collect tax for Texas. What
a bunch of convoluted nonsense. How are online stores supposed to
keep up with all that?



It's called software. It will be automatic, similar to the way the
on-line web sites calculate shipping costs based on destination zip
code, package weight, and choice of shipping method.

It's considerably more complicated than dropping in a sales tax
calculator. First, there are about 11,000 sales tax jurisdictions in
the U.S. Second, the boundaries of these jurisdictions change on an
almost daily basis, for example, when a city with a sales tax
enlarges its corporate limits or changes its tax rate. The "drop-in"
software will require periodic updates. It's not for nothing that
tax lawyers are often called "loose-leaf lawyers." Several hours a
week their associates are tasked with updating the tax law reference
books with tax law changes that took place in just the past few days.

But these confusions pale into insignificance when compared to two
other considerations:

1. What is taxed is highly variable. In New York, magazines are tax
exempt while newspapers are subject to the sales tax. It's the exact
reverse in California (that's why the NY Post has a staple - it's
thereby permantly bound, exempt from the tax, and has a 9%
competitive advantage over its competitors). Just in my state, a
single donut is taxable, but six or more are not! This oddity,
alone, could require 11,000 possible taxing flags (plus quantity
modifiers) for each item the company sells. In some places,
prescription drugs are exempt while OTC drugs are taxed. What about
an OTC drug on a prescription? (See the recent changes to Medical
Savings Accounts regarding drug purchases.)

2. The reporting requirements are staggering. Imagine sending several
hundred or thousand reports - and checks - monthly, quarterly,
semiannually, or yearly depending on the reporting requirements of
each taxing authority.

It's more than a body can bear!

Brick & Mortar stores have one competitive advantage: the
convenience of immediacy. Just like your neighborhood Stop & Rob,
you can get your merchandise right now. If the B&M stores can't make
it with this advantage, they should hire an 11-year old male as a
web master and start selling online.

Aside: There IS an alternative: Amazon, or whoever, could simply
provide a list of each purchaser's name, address, and amount to each
state comptroller and let the STATE struggle with trying to collect
the taxes. If it's too big a job, or financially imprudent, to do
so, what makes anyone think that putting that burden on hundreds of
thousands of merchants is better?


All of this is extremely simple on the software/comm side.
Already being done.
Ever think about the mechanics of walking a step?
You can write a thousand pages to make that look complicated too.
And it is. Sales tax is trivial in comparison.
Of course taxes are man-made.


Yep. Anything is simple if all you have to do is pay for it.

A short internet reconnaissance reveals one company - Service Objects DOTS
Fast Tax - has a module you can incorporate in your web-based marketing
system. It costs $1,428.00 per year for up to 5,000 transaction per month.
(The cost goes up to almost $6,000.00 per year as the transaction count
increases.)