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Washington State Encourages Internet Sales Tax

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the paying-the-piper dept.

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.

41 of 200 comments (clear)

  1. Not that it matters but ... by slughead · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't think this is legal under the constitution. The sales are made outside WA and therefore cannot be taxed by the WA government. A lot of governors have tried this crap, I don't think any have succeeded though.

    It's stupid anyway. Sales taxes in Seattle are up to 9.1% which is pretty damn ridiculous. If I were living in WA and this went through, I'd move. Internet purchases help make WA living more affordable.

    --
    Latewire
    1. Re:Not that it matters but ... by karnal · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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
    2. Re:Not that it matters but ... by dreamchaser · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

    3. Re:Not that it matters but ... by Teresita · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's stupid anyway. Sales taxes in Seattle are up to 9.1% which is pretty damn ridiculous. If I were living in WA and this went through, I'd move. Internet purchases help make WA living more affordable.

      Right. Let's save money. Let's move from a beautiful green ecotopia and hot job market (Boeing, Amazon, Starbucks, Paccar, Microsoft, and Dept. of Defense) with rising house prices, to Detroit, where houses go for $30,000 and people make SUVs that don't sell because everyone wants a Prius.

    4. Re:Not that it matters but ... by Dun+Malg · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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. No, you actually can't say that. The law is very clear on this, and predates the internet, having been settled long ago on the issue of mail-order. The sale happens where the money changes hands in exchange for the goods. That location is the business office where they process the credit card transaction, deposit the check, or receive the cash. It doesn't matter if your ass is in a chair on the beach in waikiki or in a barcolounger in cleveland, if you're buying from a guy in Texas, the sale is in Texas.
      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    5. Re:Not that it matters but ... by Fuzzie+Viking · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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.
    6. Re:Not that it matters but ... by miskatonic+alumnus · · Score: 2, Informative

      I started paying my use taxes a few years ago. On my state income tax form there was a check box for those who didn't keep good records of their out-of-state purchases. I'd Check it, add some miniscule percent of my income for use tax (about $20) and breathe a sigh of relief knowing that I could survive an audit. Pretty cheap protection money.

    7. Re:Not that it matters but ... by jerkface.us · · Score: 2, Insightful

      But undocumented immigrants, who don't usually pay income taxes, still have to pay sales taxes.

      --
      Fortune favors the bold.
    8. Re:Not that it matters but ... by American+Infidel · · Score: 3, Funny

      States get the authority to tax interstate purchases from the same place that software companies get the authority to impose EULAs: from the magic of flat-out lying.

    9. Re:Not that it matters but ... by Nullav · · Score: 4, Funny

      And further, why are people so god damn willing to give up their money to the fucking government?!

      You're right. Let's just leave mass transit, maintaining the roads, and law enforcement up to large corporations. Then we wouldn't have to pay taxes to the government.
      Of course, then those corporations would need a steady flow of income to make up for how much they're spending on these services. I got it! They could collect fees from people using the roadways at certain points, charge a percentage for all goods sold on their land, and charge everyone in the area based on how much they make each year.

      Then we wouldn't have to pay those stupid taxes.
      --
      I just read Slashdot for the articles.
    10. Re:Not that it matters but ... by I'm+Don+Giovanni · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "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
    11. Re:Not that it matters but ... by The+Warlock · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Florida got around this little obstacle by taxing "use" instead of "sale", where the "use" tax was waived if you paid a sales tax. The end result, of course, was that out-of-state purchases were taxed as much as in-state purchases. A clever bit of legal work, I must say.

      --
      I've upped my standards, so up yours.
    12. Re:Not that it matters but ... by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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.)

      --
      Comment of the year
    13. Re:Not that it matters but ... by harlows_monkeys · · Score: 4, Informative

      I don't think this is legal under the constitution. The sales are made outside WA and therefore cannot be taxed by the WA government. A lot of governors have tried this crap, I don't think any have succeeded though

      It is legal, according to the Supreme Court. The main case in this area is Complete Auto Transit vs. Brady.

      The state is not taxing the out-of-state sales. Rather, it is imposing an excise tax on possession or use of the items by residents of the state (this kind of tax is usually called a "use tax", and I'll call it that in the rest of this comment). A common example of this kind of thing is taxes on luxury items such as boats. If a state has such a tax, you generally will have to pay it when you register the boat, even if you bought the boat out of state. The same power that allows the state to tax that boat that you are using in-state regardless of where you bought it is what allows them to tax, say, your mail-order books or computers or viagra.

      The main limits on this, due to the interstate commerce clause in the Constitution, are that they cannot force merchants in another state to collect the tax for them (but see below), and the tax cannot unduly burden out-of-state purchases. The Court has decided that this means that the total tax on an out-of-state purchase (sales taxes in the state of sale plus the use tax in the buyer's state) cannot exceed what the tax would have been had the item been purchased in-state.

      As far as collection goes, a state does not have the power, in general, to tell a merchant in another state to collect this use tax for the state. What I mean by "in general" is that an arbitrary merchant, in another state, that does not have some connection with the buyer's state other than selling items to them, could not be forced to collect for the state. However, if that merchant has some relationship with the state that does give the state power over it (such as it having offices or stores in the buyer's state), then they state may have power over it. This is why major national merchants collect taxes on mail-order purchases, even if their mail-order operation is out of the purchaser's state--they have retail stores in the purchaser's state, and so the state can tell them to collect the tax.

      For items where the merchant does not have to, and does not voluntarily decide to, collect the use tax, the state has generally only actually collected on items like cars and boats, that have a registration requirement. But most states do have a (widely ignored and in most cases largely unknown) requirement that you pay your use tax.

      Oh, one more thing. I don't remember what case it was in, but I believe the Court has also decided that Congress does have the power to require merchants to collect use taxes when they sell mail-order, even if they do not have a sufficient present in the buyer's state to give that state authority to compel such collection.

  2. City tax rate is the problem by topham · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The fact you have individual City tax rates is the biggest problem.

    While the current situation in Canada is similar to the U.S., out of province purchase isn't subject to sales tax unless the company has a local presence, or you live in Quebec. (They are always the exception).

    Implementing tax collection based on destination in Canada is simple, a table containing the province, tax rate, expiry date, and gl code are probably sufficient.

    In the U.S. you would need a complete database of Zipcodes, and, or addresses to resolve the tax rate. Ugh! Now you have to maintain that, and that is probably on a monthly basis, not even yearly.

    1. Re:City tax rate is the problem by thewils · · Score: 2, Interesting

      it'll be built into all of the major shopping cart software inside of a week

      Already is, there's a thriving industry in the US providing sales/use taxes by City, County and State because they change so frequently making it impossible to keep up on your own. Here's a quick google of same

      The fun starts when you get ZipCodes that span City, County or State boundaries...and also when you start having to apply taxes historically because of crediting returns, etc.

      --
      Once I was a four stone apology. Now I am two separate gorillas.
    2. Re:City tax rate is the problem by topham · · Score: 2, Insightful


      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.

    3. Re:City tax rate is the problem by Detritus · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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
  3. Where's the value? by way2trivial · · Score: 4, Interesting

    what exactly, did the state of the purchaser do, or provide to deserve 'their share'
    seriously.. I pay property taxes to my community, which benefit my community..
    if I don't like them, I can move- and pay taxes (or not) elsewhere...

    I can see a state requiring businesses to pay sales tax based on their location- you sell from delaware, you have no other locations, you charge no taxes..
    benefit to deleware? lotsa companys move to delaware for real.. and increase the states revenue in other ways (new UPS center, new fedex center, new airports, new train hubs)

    you sell fron NYC, you pay NYC taxes, all the way down to the city level......

    but, if I sell from delaware, and sell to WA, how is the states infrastructure involved that they deserve anything?
    if I am a bad merchant, which states attorney general/BBB is going to be contacted?
    (hint, the seller's state)

    it should be evolutionary taxation, 50 little economic centers- stodgy states can charge the high/heavy taxes and just have funds from heavy handedness and spend it on tax collection/enforcement, enlightened states can charge no sales tax, and enjoy increased revenues from having more citizens, employed in more jobs....

    --
    every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
    1. Re:Where's the value? by scheme · · Score: 2, Insightful

      what exactly, did the state of the purchaser do, or provide to deserve 'their share' seriously.. I pay property taxes to my community, which benefit my community.. if I don't like them, I can move- and pay taxes (or not) elsewhere...

      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
    2. Re:Where's the value? by Nigel_Powers · · Score: 2, Funny

      Right...but besides providing services like roads, state police, labor and environmental protection to the purchaser, courts, etc., what have the Romans ever done for us?

      Oops, I mean the state... :)

  4. Let me know how that works out for ya... by pla · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "Washington state Governor signed a tax bill encouraging out of state businesses to collect sales taxes
    ...
    Looks like Washington-staters won't be able to fib on their tax returns about internet purchases, starting in 2008.

    Why? Washington state has NO power to do anything more than "encourage" out-of-state companies to comply. Not only can't they practically enforce this, trying to do so would violate Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the US constitution.



    States can pass all the stupid laws they want regarding what you have to pay for "use" tax and the like. But at the end of the day (at least, at the end of April 15th), cash still lets you make untraceable (and untaxable after-the-fact) purchases.

    I will really never understand why we accept "death and taxes" as somehow magically inevitable. The governments of the world have demonstrated themselves completely incapable of responsibly allocating the resources of the citizenry for the common good. Why do we still let them?

    We should view tax evasion as one of the most noble of "crimes", depriving aggressive social parasites of their sole form of food.

  5. No State Income Tax in Washington by Rudolfo · · Score: 2, Informative
    Looks like Washington-staters won't be able to fib on their tax returns about internet purchases, starting in 2008

    Well, that's not really an issue since there's no state income tax in Washington state.

    (Although having residents like Bill Gates and Paul Allen is a good reason to consider it.)

  6. Re:Try a 2-party political system, Washington! Duh by omeomi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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
  7. Re:Avoid the tax by pla · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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%.

  8. Re:Avoid the tax by linguizic · · Score: 2, Informative

    I've got a friend who lived under Soviet rule for most of his life, he also lived in Canada for a while and he swears up and down that when you add up all the taxes you pay at every level, the USA has the highest taxes AND that USians don't get as much for their tax dollars as they do in Canada.

    --
    Does this sig remind you of Agatha Christie?
  9. Washington State residents don't file returns by symbolset · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Looks like Washington-staters won't be able to fib on their tax returns about internet purchases, starting in 2008.

    The state has no income tax so for the most part state residents don't file returns. There is a form(PDF) people fill out if they bought things online or out of state but if you were going to lie on that form you wouldn't fill it out at all. Far fewer than 1% of Washington residents fill out this form.

    Back when car tabs on a big RV cost more than $5,000/yr it was quite common to go to a neighboring state to buy the thing, which cost the state a great deal of money in lost sales tax. To recover this lost tax an enforcement program was begun, and several people were prosecuted and fined up to the full value of the vehicle. This raised public awareness of the tax to the point where a series of initiatives was passed to make the registration tabs on all vehicles a flat $30. A series of (IIRC) three initiatives was required because each initiative that was overwhelmingly passed was immediately opposed by the government, the courts, and the attorney general's office. It was turning into a parody of democratic principles. They even did a hatchet job on reputation of the citizen who started and pushed the $30 car tab movement, Tim Eyman. Eventually though they got the idea that the people weren't going to tolerate this tax any more and even though the AG had the initiatives that passed declared unconstitutional the legislature reduced the tax to $30 anyway.

    Immediately after this Seattle and some other jurisdictions passed new add-on taxes for vehicles but called them by a new name. At present the taxes on vehicle registrations are still much more reasonable even in the worst case. The struggle on this issue in Washington continues and likely will not end.

    There is currently a movement to install a personal income tax in Washington in the name of fairness. It is likely to get a lot of press, but no traction. The only way this would get popular support was if it was promised to lower other taxes also and the people of Washington know that would be a flat lie. Besides, several of the wealthiest business people in the world live in Washington and they can afford to have a state income tax quietly killed.

    FTA:

    The main sticking point revolved around a change the law makes on where sales tax goes when it is collected. Under current law, the jurisdiction where a product originates receives the sales tax. That doesn't help the state, if the product originates with an out-of-state Internet company.

    Under the measure, the jurisdiction where the product is delivered would get the tax.

    The change benefits some cities and towns, but hurts others. To solve this problem, the measure calls for mitigation, in which jurisdictions that lose money would receive payments from the state.

    This "mitigation" sounds like a way for some bureaucrat to increase the "fairness" to his friends and family. That's going to end well.

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
    1. Re:Washington State residents don't file returns by Aexia · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Sorry, but when tax revenues by and large get exported from Seattle to the rest of the state, you're hardly getting "ignored"; You're getting subsidized at Seattle's expense.

  10. Both parties fail on tax policy! by kad77 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Neither US political party has much to brag about on tax an spend issues. They both are quite greedy.

    Take a look at the CATO Institutes 2006 report card on state governors:
    http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa581/reportcard_tabl e.html

    In case you are too blinded by ideology to even look, I'll post the scores of the governors above and below Washington :

    Bob Riley (R) -- Alabama, 47, F
    Christine Gregoire (D) -- Washington, 47, F
    Mike Huckabee (R) -- Arkansas, 46, F

    The full report, with analysis and discussion:
    http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa581.pdf

    BTW, John Stossel had an interesting report on 20/20 last night about Senator Tom Coburn, who is fighting federal pork-- and taking on heavy fire from both sides.

    He wrote about the story last year:
    http://www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?Url Title=secrets_in_the_senate&ns=JohnStossel&dt=09/1 3/2006&page=full&comments=true

  11. Regressive taxation by pjt33 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I actually prefer a sales or VAT tax over any income tax at all.
    Do you, perchance, have a high income? In a situation where VAT is the only tax, the poor spend a greater proportion of their income on tax than the rich, because they spend all their income.
  12. Re:Avoid the tax by AuMatar · · Score: 3, Informative

    Reread your economics book. No good has intrinsic value. A good is only valuable if someone else desires it, and only to the degree they desire it. Gold has no special magical property that gives it an intrinsic value.

    --
    I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
  13. Re:Out of state biz are under no obligation to rep by Mad-Bassist · · Score: 2

    Did your friends ever think beyond their own wallet, as to the damage that they were doing to Washington's brick and mortar businesses? Did your friends ever consider if Washington would be such a great state to live in if most of the brick and mortar stores said "Fuck it. We can't compete with these people who just want to avoid paying taxes. We're closing up shop"? There is a flipside to that too: some of us Portlanders will cross the river to buy cars because the auto dealers like to say "Cars sell for less in Vancouver." This is because we can buy a large amount of groceries or an automobile, show our Oregon driver's licenses, sign our name on a form, and have the sales tax taken off. It's not perfect, but there is some balance there. I haven't done that often myself--more like when I happened to be up there and grabbing stuff before the trip back home. The exception would be the annual pilgrimage around the 4th of July because of the better fireworks. ;-)

    --
    "The only legitimate use of a computer is to play games." - Eugene Jarvis
  14. Re:Avoid the tax by HermMunster · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.
  15. United States Constitution trumps Washington State by LorenzoV · · Score: 2, Informative

    United States Constitution trumps Washington State law.
    http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html

    Section 9.
    "No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State."

    There is court precedence to back it up, too.
    http://tinyurl.com/2pyvoh

  16. Non residents arn't taxed (as much) by Kaenneth · · Score: 2, Informative

    When I was working retail, all a customer had to do was show an out-of-state ID, and their purchase would be sales tax exempt.

    I would assume this wouldn't apply to the newer Hotel/Rental car taxes tho.

  17. Karma of local purchases by symbolset · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Is the man who sweeps the warehouse in the MidWest not my Brother also? Is the UPS driver not my neighbor? Is there a way I can choose products where I know all the people involved got a living wage, and not break the benefit of the commerce by making it impossible for me to afford? Does the clerk at your local store make more than the ones at mine? Mine are poor. Do your neigbors not invest their retirement funds in large companies that make these transactions? Is it not a benefit to encourage businesses to compete in the field of supply chain efficiency?

    My understanding of hard drives far exceeds the level of maintenance a reasonable person would consider worthwhile. If you require guidance in this area, I can appreciate your willingness to pay a premium for it.

    And this "hard drive" you speak of... is it not made in Asia by robots and packaged by enslaved children? When you're done with it, will you ship this toxic component to your local landfill or will you "recycle" it by having it shipped back to asia, where it will be dismantled and strewn across farmers fields for the lead to leach into the groundwater?

    I don't see the karma here.

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
  18. WTF? by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 2, Informative

    Looks like Washington-staters won't be able to fib on their tax returns about internet purchases, starting in 2008.

    We don't have to file (state) tax. It says so in the article quoted about 2 sentences above this moronic comment: Washington State has no income tax.

    So now editors don't even read the blurbs. Or did they before?

    --
    Comment of the year
  19. Try and get some facts by mybecq · · Score: 5, Informative

    I mean, my Federal income tax has been plummeting over the past 6 years of Republican rule.
    I'll see your sarcasm, and raise you some facts:

    1992 1993 2001 2002 2003-2006
        -2000
                    10.0% 10%
    15% 15.0% 15.0% 15.0% 15%
    28% 28.0% 27.5% 27.0% 25%
    31% 31.0% 30.5% 30.0% 28%
        36.0% 35.5% 35.0% 33%
        39.6% 39.1% 38.6% 35%


    I don't know where you got your mathematics degree from, but for me:

    2000 -> 2006
    15% -> 10%
    28% -> 25%
    31% -> 28%
    36% -> 33%
    39.6% -> 35%

    Looks like

    they've gone up doesn't quite fit the numbers.

    (Yes, the tax brackets get wider, but they do that every year.)
  20. Okay, give me a vote by Migraineman · · Score: 2, Funny


    I'll be happy to pay your "out-of-state sales tax" if you'll provide me with the ability to vote in your elections. [Palpatine] Awlll of them. [/Palpatine]

    I expect representation for the taxation.

  21. Re:Avoid the tax by loganrapp · · Score: 2, Informative

    If humans no longer wished to live, the food would have no value. Meaning - humans desire food because it's required for their survival. If they suddenly stopped caring about life, they would not desire food and food would be worthless.

  22. The Constitution is black and white on this by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 4, Informative

    Article I, Section 9:
    "No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state."