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Internet Sales Tax Bill Dead In Congress
jfruh writes: Last year, a bipartisan coalition helped get the Main Street Fairness Act approved by the U.S. Senate. The bill would have allowed state and local governments to collect sales taxes on Internet sales by companies in different jurisdictions. But House Speaker John Boehner, a longtime opponent of Internet taxes, won't bring the matter to a vote in the House before the end of the year, which should kill it for the immediate future.
but at least they got this one concept correct.
No, they got this one wrong. Taxes should be sensible, fair, and enforceable. The current system of "use taxes" is not sensible, not fair, and not enforced at all (~98% cheat). Almost everyone evades the tax, and many don't even know they are cheating. That penalizes the small number of people that are both informed and honest. It also unfairly penalizes local merchants over internet merchants that thrive (partly) because of the tax evasion by their customers.
This was a sensible reform, and it is a shame to see it blocked.
Of course they're not going to. Both the republicans and democrats are responsible for all of that.
Indeed. The GOP has a chance here - the GOP congresscritters are now younger and more diverse than the Dems. They might just turn over a new leaf. Maybe.
I'll be all for them if they do - they keep talking about smaller government, than maximize pork distribution. Let's see them shut down anything, anything at all. Get rid of the TSA. Get rid of any government department -- I don't even care which -- just do something to show one party really intends to shrink the government machinery, rather than making BS claims about "spending" that no one at all still believes.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.