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Washington State Encourages Internet Sales Tax
prostoalex writes "Washington state Governor signed a tax bill encouraging out of state businesses to collect sales taxes on purchases made by Washington state residents. It should be noted, though, that Washington state does not collect personal income tax, and hence relies on state sales tax for 53.1% of its revenues." As the article notes, "People who purchase items from out-of-state Internet or catalog companies are currently supposed to pay the sales tax, but rarely do." Looks like Washington-staters won't be able to fib on their tax returns about internet purchases, starting in 2008.
But the state doesn't have personal tax. So if you actually lived in the state of Washington it would be a good deal. This was even noted in the /. summary: It should be noted, though, that Washington state does not collect personal income tax, and hence relies on state sales tax for 53.1% of its revenues."
:)
Tip: Don't buy anything in Washington if you don't live there
Karnal
I'm not sure I disagree with you, but to play devil's advocate for a moment one *could* say the sale *does* take place in WA. The buyer makes a purchase from his or her home or workplace which is in the State of WA. The *physical* aspect of making a purchase (in this case clicking 'submit order' or whatever) is taking place in that state.
Governments do have to collect taxes. I actually prefer a sales or VAT tax over any income tax at all.
Again, not saying that I think they should necessarily get away with doing this. I *do* think that the entire tax system and code(s) needs a complete overhaul, not just in light of new technology such as the Internet, but also in light of how convoluted and cumbersome it is overall. Of course the politicos on both sides of the isle mostly like complicated tax codes. Makes it easier for them to bury loopholes for their masters...I mean campaign contributors.
Tired of paying idiotically high taxes which support the bread and circuses that keep the mindless proles from thinking too hard about how much this sucks? Try electing somebody other than far-left Democrats for a change!
Yeah, because those Republicans are doing such a good job at keeping taxes down. I mean, my Federal income tax has been plummeting over the past 6 years of Republican rule. Oh, wait, no they haven't...they've gone up...and they've been spending way more than they bring in, which means they're only going to continue going up. Huh. Well, at least they're still for "smaller government", right? Oh, wait, no, that's just what they _say_ they're for. They're actually all for rolling back civil liberties and spending way too much...
ZuluPad, the wiki notepad on crack
Sure, avoid the 6$ on the hundred, however its going to cost ya 30$ to ship it. Plus tax.
1) "Plus tax?" I think you probably didn't mean to tack that on there, in-context.
2) If I pay FedEx $30 to ship something, the money goes to people employed in getting my goods to me, providing me with a service. If I pay $6 to the government, it goes to enforcing the WO(s)D, to killing Iraqis, to free healthcare for 5th-gen welfare mommies and illegal immigrants. I'll choose to pay the $30 every time, given that choice.
3) Many online companies offer free shipping if you spend more than a fairly small amount, like $50. Obviously that cost gets rolled into the price of the product, but since they still need to compete, you pay the "real" $0.98 shipping rather than the massively inflated $29.95 S&H. And 2% costs less than 6%.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
I agree with most of what you say. Governments absolutely need legitimate sources of income. However, the devils advocate part falls apart when looked at closely. A person is no more "doing business in the home" with an internet purchase than they are using a phone call/mail order catalog. Are you saying because their voice says "yes I'll buy it" or their hand puts a stamp on the envelope that these businesses should also pay taxes? I would have to disagree with that. The transaction takes place remotely, not at home. And there is a reason for not having to pay taxes if you are not a business in that state. (The tax rate/structure can be complicated!) To try to force any Joe-shmo with a small internet store to deal with the entire country tax code is not remotely feasible.
I am Ergo the magnificent. Short in power, tall in stature, narrow of vision and wide of purpose.
But undocumented immigrants, who don't usually pay income taxes, still have to pay sales taxes.
Fortune favors the bold.
Perhaps I should have clarified, I was not talking about Businesses purchasing products or services.
I'm Canadian, lived in greater vancouver and currently live in Winnipeg manitoba. I can assure you that there are a lot of people that are fulling willing to drive to Alberta (from Winnipeg) just to save on sales tax.
But, we were not talking about people physically shopping, but rather over the internet.
When importing items into Canada you do not pay PST on the items at customs, with SOME exceptions. Vehicles being one of them.
Vehicles and realty property are not handled the same as most items. They are the exceptions.
The point I was trying to raise, and several people missed (but not all) is the complexity the U.S. seems to enjoy when it comes to taxation.
You need to fully categorize all your products as the tax rate charged at each level, State, County and City may, or may not apply to various items, there is no consistancy and makes the issues in Canada of PST and GST and the variations look utterly simplistic.
PST, GST, HST, QST, combined with a few minor issues like environmental taxes. Multiply the complexity by about 1000 if you want to compare it to the U.S.; the fact is retail taxation in the U.S. is stupidly complex.
Aside from providing services like roads, state police, labor and environmental protection to the purchaser, courts, etc. the state didn't do much to deserve the sales tax.
"When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, it seems like two minutes. When you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it
As far as I can recall the federal government regulates this and has shot it down repeatedly. It will be challenged and shot down again. There's no sales tax for interstate purchases for a reason. This is a usurpation of those reasons.
There's little they can do to enforce it as purchases from out of state are not trackable. Also it puts a burden on businesses with licenses to set up with every possible company they do business with in line to verify their business license.
It will also turn many companies away from doing business with the state businesses.
You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.
Any correspondence between political boundaries and ZIP code boundaries is purely coincidental. I used to have an address that would trigger lots of bugs in computer software. I lived near a state boundary. My residence was in state A, but my post office was in state B. My ZIP code was associated with the location of the post office, not the location of my residence. ZIP codes were designed for routing mail, not assessing taxes.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
"But undocumented immigrants, who don't usually pay income taxes, still have to pay sales taxes."
Yep.
Same thing for criminals (e.g. drug dealers). Sales taxes are a way to get tax revenue from those that wouldn't report any personal income.
-- "I never gave these stories much credence." - HAL 9000
A) That's just trading one tax for another. If the tax rate is "too low" (and I don't think it is, considering how much the Washington State government throws away in the form of Sound Transit among other things), then it should be raised.
B) Adding a state income tax would:
1) Increase the amount of paperwork everyone in the state has to do-- that sucks
2) Not lower any associated local taxes. Sure, the optimist would say "well since we have a income tax now, the sales tax will lower to 4%." It won't. We'll just be paying more tax overall.
In any case, Washington doesn't need more tax revenue, it needs to stop throwing money in the toilet over moronic ideas that will never work.
(It disgusts me that our state throws so much money away on transit plans, like Sound Transit and the Monorail, while at the same time balks at the idea of fixing the Alaskan Way viaduct-- a viaduct that literally poses a threat to life and limb! Everyone knows in the state it'll crumble to dust at the first sign of an earthquake, killing hundreds, and the government doesn't want to pay for it. Replacing the viaduct should be the number one priority in Seattle right now, yes, even above the sculpture garden.)
(That said, the sculpture garden looks very nice.)
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