Looks like their trying to get serious with this again... two proposed bills at once. Senators propose taxing Internet shopping As an online store owner I would hate to see these go through. If it does go through I just hope that it's kept simple... though I doubt that'll happen. Your thoughts?
It's always been just a matter of time. It will be interesting to see how they implement these taxes and how international sales will be affected.
Well *legally* the end user has to pay taxes on Internet orders. It's the use tax (which happens to be the same rate as sales tax). The problem is no one actually pays it. So in reality interstate sales tax on Internet orders is more about forcing people to do what they are legally supposed to be doing anyway. Here's a good explanation (from nolo.com):
Its hard to believe such a tax could pass constitutional muster. Article I Section 9 Seems rather cut and dry to me. It really makes no sense at all. People in states receiving the goods are the responsible party. They are not following the law, so put the burden on someone else?
Exported from "the State" is referring to the United States to another country I believe. You don't "export" goods from California to Oregon for example.
It says "any state" and is intended for not taxing commerce across state lines. When the AOC was made, that was a problem and was impeding commerce, so it was changed in the Constitution specifically to prevent taxes on goods going from one state to another.
Most people don't. A law firm I worked for back in '95 or '96 got hit with tons of fines because law tapes and books they had purchased from law suppliers were taxable. After that, it was my job to log in all the purchases and mark what was taxable and what wasn't. The line between the two was sometimes a matter of interpretation - but after the penalties, we erred on the side of caution.