DIYbanter - View Single Post - OT Amazon to begin charging state sales tax

George

On 11/23/2011 11:09 AM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Wed, 23 Nov 2011 08:25:11 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:57:41 -0600,
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.

Huh? If this is so easy, why do I always get directed to web pages for a city
fifty miles from here?

After you furnish your address? You are totally confusing web sites
trying to guess where you are vs doing a database look up to determine
something such as applicable taxes after you tell them where you are.

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.

Bull****.

Of course taxes are man-made.

...and made as complicated as man can.