Question
Not exactly new news, but a nice summary anyway.
Streamlined Sales Tax Project
13 states to ask online retailers to collect taxes
By Robert Tanner
The Associated Press
Going online to buy the latest bestseller or those photos from summer vacation may be tax free for most people today, but it won't last forever.
This fall, 13 states will start encouraging — though not demanding — that online businesses collect sales taxes just as Main Street stores are required to do, and more states are considering joining the effort.
Right now, buyers themselves are expected to pay sales taxes on Internet purchases directly to the state when they pay their income taxes. But it's not widely enforced, and states say it costs them upward of $15 billion a year in lost revenue, collectively.
"Taxes that it was difficult to collect before will now be collected. And consumers will pay that," said David Quam at the National Governors Association, helping lead the five-year effort that brought together state revenue officials, legislators and business leaders.
The question of taxing Internet sales has been in limbo since the dawn of the computer era, when the only issue was catalog sales across state lines.
A 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling forbids states from forcing a business to collect their sales taxes unless the company has a physical presence in the affected state. The court noted the dizzying array of tax jurisdictions and widely varying definitions of taxable goods, such as fast food versus groceries.
Organizers of the states' effort, known as the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, sought to unify tax rules and definitions among the states. They hope to persuade federal lawmakers to pass a new law to overcome the Supreme Court ruling and allow states to take the next step — demanding online companies levy the taxes.
Many businesses are skeptical. Some worry about the complexity of tax rates that vary from city to county to state, others the cost of collecting the taxes. The states' project attempts to answer those worries, but it hasn't eased all doubts.
But the Streamlined Sales Tax Project organizers say they have taken significant steps to help businesses get on board.
They created software that automatically calculates the different taxes for different states and for different items. They promised to pay for special "service providers" that could bill customers, file and pay taxes to the states, and free companies from audit liabilities.
To be accepted as part of the project, a state must change its tax laws to match up with the others. The 13 states involved are offering businesses a promise — and an implicit threat. If businesses register and start collecting taxes this year, they're given a yearlong amnesty from the possibility that states may seek back taxes for online purchases.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the biggest effect comes at the end of the 12 months when businesses say, 'I better take this opportunity while I can,'" said Hardt.
The 13 states are Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and West Virginia. Five that will be added are Arkansas, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming.
Ms. C.
Answer
I wonder how many millions these states are spending trying to figure out how to get more tax revenue through the SSTP. Sad to say I live in one of them.
Last year, Nebraska spent a ton of money on radio and TV advertising... promoting their TAX AMNESTY program. I saw through that warm-fuzzy hog wash. These ads were just a RUSE... to remind citizens that if they've purchased just about anything on the internet, they owe the state money. In Nebraska, the consumer is expected to pay a use tax (the equivalent of the sales tax rate) on just about anything they've purchased from out of state and had shipped to them. I'm not sure when Nebraska will figure out that taxing it's residents to oblivion isn't going to keep people here!
As far as the SSTP, I know they're talking about a threshold of $X million, so only large volume companies will be affected... at first. But if the beaurocrats see enough green emerge, I don't see that threshold lasting... they'll get it anywhere they can.
Sales taxes just seem to be spinning out of control. I've never heard of a sales tax decreasing.
I sincerely hope, for all businesses sake, that this idiotic idea dies a miserable death.
Cheers