Posted by
ryuzaki0
on from the one-for-you-nineteen-for-me dept.
emag writes "ZDNet is reporting that it's likely Congress will allow state & local governments to tax e-commerce, just like buying from a storefront.
"
Go look up the US Constitution, Section 9. It states:
"No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state."
This arose from the original 13 colonies, which were taxing products imported from neighboring territories, as a protectionist barrier to help local businesses. It is commonly known as "restraint of interstate trade" and is illegal.
If internet commerce is taxed, what they are REALLY doing is taxing items imported from outside the state. Internet commerce is in no way different from ordering through a mail-order catalog. If internet commerce is taxable, so is ordering from the out-of-state mail order catalogs. Mail Order catalogs have long enjoyed freedom from taxation for out-of-state sales (but not in-state sales). Internet business is not different in any way. They all have a home office, if your order is placed with a company that happens to be outside your state, it is tax-exempt, regardless of whether you purchased via internet, telephone, or snail mail. Go ahead and allow them to pass the law. It will stand for about 10 minutes. Just hit them with the US Constitution, Article 9.
They'd pick a single, flat rate instead of going with the mishmash of state sales tax we have to deal with.
Use part of the revenue stream to benefit the internet (like, maybe funding a domain-dispute resolution arbiter:-)
Don't go anywhere near connection fees.
This should get interesting. I'm assuming that they're going to try to start enforcing sales tax on mail-order too. If they don't - wait for some internet company to sue. If they do, wait for the mail-order giants to start lobbying congress for exemptions to both. Should be one right big mess!
-Erik
-- There are always four sides to every story: your side, their side, the truth, and what really happened.
Right now, brick-and-mortar shopkeepers are disadvantaged compared to their online counterparts, and taxation is uneven: the technologically-savvy can avoid taxes buy trading on the Net.
Taxing Internet commerce will be fairer overall, be extremely efficient (since it is, by necessity, automated!), and allow lowering of other taxes. I mean, the government has to collect as much money as it needs anyway, and it is not as if the Internet needs tax breaks in order to grow.
So, yes to Internet taxes, if it means that other taxes will go down, because it is a fair tax.
elect a techie congress in 2000
by
paulzilla
·
· Score: 2
this is why we need techies in congress. LINUX techies. does anyone else feel like they're not being adequately represented by their local mudslinger? anyway, despite the fact that taxing 'e-commerce' (to use the buzzword) is fair if done properly, this still sucks, because it would mean that i would have to pay more for all my cool geek junk. and isn't that really all that counts?:P
Slashdot Mirror
Go look up the US Constitution, Section 9. It states:
"No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state."
This arose from the original 13 colonies, which were taxing products imported from neighboring territories, as a protectionist barrier to help local businesses. It is commonly known as "restraint of interstate trade" and is illegal.
If internet commerce is taxed, what they are REALLY doing is taxing items imported from outside the state. Internet commerce is in no way different from ordering through a mail-order catalog. If internet commerce is taxable, so is ordering from the out-of-state mail order catalogs. Mail Order catalogs have long enjoyed freedom from taxation for out-of-state sales (but not in-state sales). Internet business is not different in any way. They all have a home office, if your order is placed with a company that happens to be outside your state, it is tax-exempt, regardless of whether you purchased via internet, telephone, or snail mail.
Go ahead and allow them to pass the law. It will stand for about 10 minutes. Just hit them with the US Constitution, Article 9.
Knew this was gonna happen. I just wish:
This should get interesting. I'm assuming that they're going to try to start enforcing sales tax on mail-order too. If they don't - wait for some internet company to sue. If they do, wait for the mail-order giants to start lobbying congress for exemptions to both. Should be one right big mess!
-Erik
There are always four sides to every story: your side, their side, the truth, and what really happened.
Right now, brick-and-mortar shopkeepers are disadvantaged compared to their online counterparts, and taxation is uneven: the technologically-savvy can avoid taxes buy trading on the Net.
Taxing Internet commerce will be fairer overall, be extremely efficient (since it is, by necessity, automated!), and allow lowering of other taxes. I mean, the government has to collect as much money as it needs anyway, and it is not as if the Internet needs tax breaks in order to grow.
So, yes to Internet taxes, if it means that other taxes will go down, because it is a fair tax.
this is why we need techies in congress. LINUX techies. does anyone else feel like they're not being adequately represented by their local mudslinger? anyway, despite the fact that taxing 'e-commerce' (to use the buzzword) is fair if done properly, this still sucks, because it would mean that i would have to pay more for all my cool geek junk. and isn't that really all that counts? :P