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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday April 01 2017, @04:14AM   Printer-friendly
from the show-me-the-money dept.

From NewsMax:

Amazon will start collecting state sales taxes nationwide starting April 1 after those governments complained for years about losing revenue to the Internet retail giant.

The move adds Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, and New Mexico to the states where Amazon will collect state sales taxes, after other states were added earlier this year, CNBC noted. Amazon will not collect state sales taxes in Alaska, Delaware, Oregon, Montana, and New Hampshire because they don't have sales tax levies.

The National Conference of State Legislatures said its members lost $23.3 billion in revenue in 2012 due to their inability to collect sales taxes from online purchases, CNBC noted. Amazon, the biggest e-commerce business, will collect state sales taxes for all entities that have them.

[...] Money magazine wrote this week that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling for internet retailers like eBay, Etsy, and similar online marketplaces to be made to collect state and local sales tax. Proposals are in the works for New Mexico and Rhode Island.


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  • (Score: 2) by Pino P on Saturday April 01 2017, @04:49AM (8 children)

    by Pino P (4721) on Saturday April 01 2017, @04:49AM (#487480) Journal

    How practical would it be for a smaller online merchant to write thousands of sales tax remittance checks, one each to thousands of cities?

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Saturday April 01 2017, @04:58AM

    by butthurt (6141) on Saturday April 01 2017, @04:58AM (#487482) Journal

    Some U.S. states charge a small fee for a permit to collect sales tax. Most don't have such fees.

    http://blog.taxjar.com/fee-register-for-a-sales-tax-permit/ [taxjar.com]

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 01 2017, @11:53AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 01 2017, @11:53AM (#487586)

    You know, we have computers and data base systems for this kind of problem. The cost to figure local tax is a solved problem (based on zip code) and the service isn't expensive. There are other reasons you might want to avoid sales tax, but the mechanism for collecting it is well sorted.

    • (Score: 2) by Pino P on Saturday April 01 2017, @02:28PM

      by Pino P (4721) on Saturday April 01 2017, @02:28PM (#487620) Journal

      The cost to figure local tax is a solved problem (based on zip code)

      The amount of tax is not the only value that varies from one jurisdiction to another. The set of goods subject to tax. For example, in my home state, some food items are exempt from 7% sales tax, while others aren't.

      and the service isn't expensive.

      Citation needed.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 01 2017, @03:34PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 01 2017, @03:34PM (#487643)

      You know, we have computers and data base systems for this kind of problem. The cost to figure local tax is a solved problem (based on zip code) and the service isn't expensive. There are other reasons you might want to avoid sales tax, but the mechanism for collecting it is well sorted.

      Wrong Einstein. There are quite a few zip codes around here that span two different counties and/or different municipalities. Tax rates are all over the map.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 02 2017, @02:02AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 02 2017, @02:02AM (#487785)

        Zip + 4 for the win (or for the loss, if you think taxes are for losers...)

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 01 2017, @12:51PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 01 2017, @12:51PM (#487597)

    It is simple to do. Make the carrier collect the tax as part of shipping cost. This is because the address that the validate will give you the tax rate do, Tech is not hard at all. It is the collecting of the information for what to charge. Been doing it for over 15yrs at a large bug company.

    Note: truck drivers are responsible for the loads they carry, why not tqx collection too. This makes tax reporting simple to over a few companies that states would have to audit. They companies are already in the state, so no special travel or hotel costs for audits.

    What is important is:
          Sales tax is based on the location of "cash register" / "consumption", except for Texas and Hawaii. So, if owner takes position at their home, that is point of sale / consumption.
          Based on "ownership" of the land: special districts, city, county, state, fed. Fed land does not have to collect taxes for state and on down. Arkansas have cities that contain one or two blocks of county land. Businesses on that county land do not have collect city part of sales tax. Washington Sales tax and special districts follow elementary school districts.

    So address validation is how to correct. Personally, USPS show be the keeper of the tax rate to address cross reference, since they own the address already. Once validated and rate is returned then the seller can charge and pass through the shipper USPS, FedEx, UPS, DHL. It is part of cost for shipping.

    So, if you want to ship a item. Take it USPS declare value. Shipping cost and tax is calculate and you pay it. done. This way you get insurance too. Declared value and that the tqax was collected and paid. So no collector coming to your home or business.

    • (Score: 2) by Pino P on Saturday April 01 2017, @02:30PM (1 child)

      by Pino P (4721) on Saturday April 01 2017, @02:30PM (#487622) Journal

      Some goods are tax exempt. Even if I know the general tax rate for a particular ZIP code, how do I know which goods are taxed at a lower or higher rate?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 02 2017, @01:55AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 02 2017, @01:55AM (#487781)

        the sdame method , since the tax rate varies by item. there are even items with 0% not to confused with no tax and non-taabe.

        Been doing it for 30 years. Made good living at it.