There are two arguments for why Amazon should collect sales tax.
One is because the state gov'ts are losing revenue. To this one, I would argue that it is too vague which state should get that revenue anyway -- if I live in Indiana, work in michigan, and order something from Amazon (based in WA), then which state should the tax revenue go to? Does it matter if I am sitting at work in Michigan when I order it? Does it matter where I ship it to? or where my bank is?
The other argument is "not having to collect sales tax gives internet companies like Amazon an unfair market advantage." To this one I would say that the argument should not be about sales tax as long as I can buy the same cable for $2 + $4 shipping ($6 total) from Amazon as I can buy for $25 + tax from Walmart, Best Buy, Target, or whatever other brick & mortar store you can think of. The prices are often much cheaper *before* taxes are considered. I think these brick & mortar stores need to figure out how to adapt their models to the changing market rather than try to get gov'ts to legislate against their competitors.
Man, if you're paying anywhere near $20 for shipping a 6' HDMI cable, you're getting raped. I've never paid more than $5 to ship something that size, and often, I bundle purchases so that they reach the $ threshold for free shipping from the distributor (amazon, newegg, etc)
...they tried to sell me a discount video card for $120, and then I went home and got it online, with overnight shipping for about $30. Similar story for hard drives or any kind of cable (they tried to sell me a SATA cable for $30 -- they're literally $1 online).
I find it funny that people blame Amazon's success and brick-and-mortar's failure on lack of sales taxes, when examples like these are rampant.
Perhaps the trees aren't directly responsible for the findings -- I mean, the story makes it sound like the trees are actually creating electricity themselves,but perhaps it is more a result of wooded areas, meaning that since the wooded areas tend to give wind resistance, the wind is less likely to disperse these negative ions, so they tend to become more concentrated there.
Well-written and I agree wholeheartedly. No point in having socialized gaming consoles, but huge benefit in having socialized health-care, for example. I have no clue how "socialist" became the new replacement for "Commie bastard" (which itself replaced "Nazi"). It sure is a shame.
One other question -- under whose authority/jurisdiction will this be enforced? Will it only be applicable when the source article is hosted by a site that is based in Germany? What if they aren't based there, but they do have a physical office there?
Slashdot Mirror
Well, Trayvon can't. He's dead, and therefore unable to speak.
I also (mis)read it that way... probably wouldn't have bothered clicking the link if I'd have read it correctly!
If we tried to turn the entirety of Facebook into paper documents... it would kill us all!
They asked for feedback, and the GP gave it. Why do you have such a problem with that?
You take your blinders off. I already posted again wondering why my poor joke (that I even booed while making it) got modded insightful.
Wow I can't believe that got modded "Insightful"
There are two arguments for why Amazon should collect sales tax.
One is because the state gov'ts are losing revenue. To this one, I would argue that it is too vague which state should get that revenue anyway -- if I live in Indiana, work in michigan, and order something from Amazon (based in WA), then which state should the tax revenue go to? Does it matter if I am sitting at work in Michigan when I order it? Does it matter where I ship it to? or where my bank is?
The other argument is "not having to collect sales tax gives internet companies like Amazon an unfair market advantage." To this one I would say that the argument should not be about sales tax as long as I can buy the same cable for $2 + $4 shipping ($6 total) from Amazon as I can buy for $25 + tax from Walmart, Best Buy, Target, or whatever other brick & mortar store you can think of. The prices are often much cheaper *before* taxes are considered. I think these brick & mortar stores need to figure out how to adapt their models to the changing market rather than try to get gov'ts to legislate against their competitors.
They're called Republicans here.
(Booooo!)
Whoosh back
(Terrorism is the new communism)
Disclaimer: $20 is probably reasonable if for some reason you're getting it shipped overnight
Man, if you're paying anywhere near $20 for shipping a 6' HDMI cable, you're getting raped. I've never paid more than $5 to ship something that size, and often, I bundle purchases so that they reach the $ threshold for free shipping from the distributor (amazon, newegg, etc)
He said "Republicrats" which is an obvious mixture of Republican + Democrat.
I believe the folks in Washington DC are already working very hard at this.
I find it funny that people blame Amazon's success and brick-and-mortar's failure on lack of sales taxes, when examples like these are rampant.
Obviously this was caused by Superman when he tossed nuclear weapons into the Sun.
Wish I had a mod point! Great observation!
In soviet google, genius solution invents you.
Perhaps the trees aren't directly responsible for the findings -- I mean, the story makes it sound like the trees are actually creating electricity themselves,but perhaps it is more a result of wooded areas, meaning that since the wooded areas tend to give wind resistance, the wind is less likely to disperse these negative ions, so they tend to become more concentrated there.
Hey! I'm management!
Well-written and I agree wholeheartedly. No point in having socialized gaming consoles, but huge benefit in having socialized health-care, for example. I have no clue how "socialist" became the new replacement for "Commie bastard" (which itself replaced "Nazi"). It sure is a shame.
Well, where am I supposed to pull shit out of, then?
Why did this get modded up? The numbers in the GP were per 100,000 people, so it's a perfectly fair comparison.
Ok, I actually asked three questions...
One other question -- under whose authority/jurisdiction will this be enforced? Will it only be applicable when the source article is hosted by a site that is based in Germany? What if they aren't based there, but they do have a physical office there?
Does that include Slashdot, then? Or will the submitters & editors have to make sure they paraphrase everything in the summary (no more copypasta)?