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Ban On Internet Sales Tax Ends Saturday

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the salivating-pigs dept.

donnyspi writes "As reported in the Rocky Mountain News, among other places, the 5 year ban on collecting sales tax on purchases over the internet is scheduled to end Saturday. 'The original moratorium was established in 1998, renewed in 2001 and is set to expire Saturday. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill in September that would expand the ban and make it permanent. Similar legislation hasn't yet been voted on in the Senate.'

2 of 192 comments (clear)

  1. Why Internet and Not Mail Order by Davak · · Score: 5, Insightful


    When mail order business was getting started, the traditional businesses and the government moaned and groaned about the lack of tax return... However, today nobody is looking to tax mail order. Why not?

    Mail order is been around far longer than the internet.

    The internet is a wonderful business model and vector. Let us not soil it with taxes just yet.

    Davak

  2. Catalogs by andyrut · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I see no reason why Internet sales should be treated any differently than catalog or telephone sales.

    If I buy a widget from Company X via a catalog when I live in a different state than Company X, I'm not charged Company X's state's sales tax. But when this moratorium expires, I could be charged state sales tax if the purchase were over the Internet. And then, which state's sales tax would I have to pay?

    Why should the medium of the purchase dictate the taxation rules? I, for one, would like to see sales tax laws universally applied for interstate commerce.