US Senators introduce bill to tax Internet shopping

[FiberGuy]

...and being able to levy new monthly taxes on DSL and other connections.

I don't see this as being difficult to push through.  We're already nickel-and-dime taxed on our phone service, why not the internet?   

One senator is even predicting taxes on e-mail.

At first glance, one might think this may reduce spam.  Wrong-O... just get an overseas mail server and voila!  This one scares me, because as ignorant as the bureaucrats are regarding the internet, I could imagine them trying to tax e-mail received!

...warned Sen. Michael Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, at a Senate hearing on Wednesday. "Are we implicitly blessing a situation where states are forced to raise other taxes, such as income or property taxes, to offset the growing loss of sales tax revenue?"

Boo-hoo!      :peepants:

On Tuesday, Enzi introduced a bill that would usher in mandatory sales tax collection for Internet purchases.

- That would potentially destroy already overstrapped internet retailers, some who have profit margins in the single digits.  Way to go.  Nice guy.  Thanks a lot.  Swell.   

At the moment, for instance, Seattle-based Amazon.com is not required to collect sales taxes on shipments to millions of its customers in states like California, where Amazon has no offices. (Californians are supposed to voluntarily pay the tax owed when filing annual state tax returns, but few do.)

So are Nebraskans.  Yeah right.  That'll be the day.  K-M-A 

They invoke arguments--unsuccessful so far--like saying that reduced sales tax revenue threatens budgets for schools and police.

Ummm... OK.  Here's an idea.  One of many in my coffee-drenched, don't screw with my business mind this morning:  All elected officials take a pay cut.  99% of them are already very wealthy, it was their choice to run for an elected office... why do we need to pay them executive salaries?   

One long-standing objection to mandatory sales tax collection, which the Supreme Court in a 1992 case left up to Congress to decide, is the complexity of more than 7,500 different tax agencies that each have their own (and frequently bizarre) rules.

N.S.S.  Just what every internet retailer needs.  An entire staff devoted to deciphering the multitudes of tax laws for every state - not to mention the additional paperwork and accounting staff.   

(Small businesses with less than $5 million in out-of-state sales are exempted.)

   

For now... 

Sen. Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, said Wednesday that he'd like "to see an impregnable ban on taxes on the Internet."

You know it, brother!

Jeff Dircksen, the director of congressional analysis at the National Taxpayers Union in Alexandria, Va., said in written testimony prepared for the hearing: "If such a system of extraterritorial collection is allowed, Congress will have opened the door to any number of potential tax cartels that will eventually harm rather than help taxpayers."

Ahhh... someone after my own heart!  Mr. Dircksen obviously knows congress!

------------------

Open letter to all politicians, lawmakers and bench-legislating judges:

My bread and butter is selling on the internet.  The following is my welcome mat for you:

Stay out.

Keep off the grass.

Adios.

Restricted Area: Deadly Force Authorized

Open by appointment only.

Haven't you got something better to do?

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Ahhhhh.......   I feel much better now!  Where's my coffee.....

[BellisimaJ.]

GREAT post, Fg!!

(It helps that it's also so funny.......)

[mandy]

Update:

Two bills are pending in Congress that would allow tax collectors to target out-of-state Internet and mail-order retailers, and their supporters are optimistic about their political prospects.

"I certainly would love to see a floor vote," said Neal Osten, federal affairs counsel for the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), a lobby group for state politicians. "We've heard encouraging words from the Democratic leadership in the House."

Meanwhile, pro-tax states are trying their own ways to circumvent a long-standing rule saying a retailer must have physical presence before it can be forced to collect taxes. One effort came from New York state, where legislators recently approved a measure requiring Amazon and other online retailers (that lack a physical presence in the state) to collect sales tax on New Yorkers' purchases.

That amounts to a declaration of war against Amazon, and a legal battle now seems all but inevitable...

full article: http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9919420-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Related: a proposal to tax iTunes downloads:

A growing number of state politicians are proposing new laws to levy taxes on digital downloads, including music, video, and books, as a way to remedy budget pains...

One reason that music and movie downloads have partially escaped the notice of tax collectors is that, until a few years ago, the market was relatively small and state tax laws sometimes apply only to tangible goods. But their attitude has changed now that iTunes, Amazon.com, eMusic, Rhapsody, Wal-Mart Music, Yahoo Music Unlimited, and others have demonstrated that there is plenty of untapped revenue for tax-hungry politicians--underscored by reports like one in February stating that iTunes has sold more than 4 billion songs...

full article: http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9918391-7.html