'unfair advantage' pros and cons

Reader comment on: The Internet Tax Mirage

Submitted by Keith Yockey (United States), Apr 12, 2011 11:56

Your fire theory is flawed. That UPS truck on fire in IL probably paid property tax and would be an issue of common carrier liabilities. The same truck could be carrying merchandise from a 'sales tax' collected item as well. Laptop on fire? That's product liability, not Amazon. Same laptop could have come from the mfg. to Best Buy for retail sale. Nice try. Online does not require local govt to build a 6 lane hwy. to the Mall. A B&M does.

8000 tax districts? You bet, and none are defined by zip code. Software answer? Yes, it is in place now ... for a price. Alavera.com will do it, and for a small online business like me, the cost is $0.25 or more per transaction. Sales tax laws are not uniform, and expecting me to know that clothing or shoes is not taxable 3000 miles away is unrealistic. Sales Tax law was never designed for online. Fine for one store with one tax rate, but to force online to figure multi tax rates, exceptions, and extra tax for the new fountain in town square? Please!

Unfair advantage? B&Ms have been screaming about that one ever since WalMart/Target moved in next door. It's called adjust or die.

This is a consumer issue, not one for online retail. States have laws on the books now to collect said tax ... called Use Tax. States do little to educate the public of its obligations.

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