California Balks At Internet Sales Tax

bob_calder writes "California has walked away from $2 billion a year in revenue by declining to get on board with a group working to standardize tax rates so a national tax on Internet sales could eventually be implemented by Congress. Supporters of the tax think they still have a chance in New York, Texas, and Florida. At the moment the largest states pursuing the Streamlined Sales Tax Initiative are New Jersey, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. California didn't want to give up its autonomy in setting taxes to a coalition of smaller states."

Comments

Who is the "orginization" behind this tax?

[Mc_Anthony]

I searched around and wasn't able to come up with the name of the group pushing for this Internet tax. Does anyone have more information on them? What are their politics? Who is funding them?

Re:Who is the "orginization" behind this tax?

[i2amsam]

Something I actually know about!

My Dad is working on Streamlined Sales Tax Committee
It's an initiative that's being run by the states, but
the big push is from big online realators like Amazon and
E-bay because they don't want to face 50 sets of rules of
tax for all of the 50 states.

The current system is stupid on the face of it, since now
most states only tax commerce for corperations which have
a actual physical presence in that state, it encourages
companies to not setup any investment in states where they
do a high volume of sales.

It's been going on for *years* and I don't know that they're
making much progress, too many cooks.

Re:Who is the "orginization" behind this tax?

[maxume]

Look up 'use' tax. Most states charge it, it is a tax on goods purchased in other states; in my state, it isn't owed on goods that have already had sales tax charged on them. It's on the honor system, so people don't worry 'bout it much, I imagine the state pays more attention to rich folks. For a lot of people, because the law is written with people not keeping track in mind(there is an option to itemize small purchases or pay a standard amount), it amounts to cheating for about $20-30.

It's called Use Tax

[Anonymous Coward]

California already taxes internet purchases via a Use Tax law which is imposed on all goods purchased and then brought into the state by residents. You have to calculate the tax yourself when you file your state income tax return.

Re:why standardize tax rates?

[walt-sjc]

The problem is bigger than you realize. It's not just 50 different state taxes, it's local taxes too. Cities in California can add their own sales tax. Also, in some places clothing is taxed, and not in others. The exceptions and special cases for sales taxes nationwide is a total freakin nightmare.