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Greedy, Grasping, Greedy, Greedy, Greedy Ebay-o-rama-Supreme Court Backs Thebes


thebes

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12 minutes ago, TubeHiFiNut said:

The small, independent internet retailers who choose to remain independent would likely be forced out of business due to the cost of compliance.

 

Not arguing here, I'm just thinking through the other side.

 

Collecting a sales tax times 50 states should be a mere software choice  from a picklist.  Sending out quarterly sales taxes collected could be automated and checks disbursed without any human interaction.

 

The real problem I see is on-line sellers who don't remit their collected taxes in a timely way.  It's tough enough to get behind to the feds or your local state government, but to get behind in 50 states?  And how would the states go after the tax offenders?

 

That's the unintended consequences I would be most concerned with.

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I have to collect and send in sales tax now for Arkansas.  It is an extreme pain to comply with all the sales tax laws in just Arkansas.  There is the state sales tax, there are county sales taxes, there are city sales taxes.  In a given county, your tax rate depends on where you live in that county and whether or not you are inside city limits or outside.  And this tax is on where the product is delivered, not where I am.  I get letters almost every week updating sales taxes for several different cities and counties in Arkansas.  I have so much difficulty keeping up with the Arkansas situation that I cannot imagine having to keep up with 50 different states and all their different tax laws and changes to those laws.  And, for one small mistake on filing, the state can and will padlock the business and freeze all bank accounts unless you very quickly fix whatever they say you need to fix.  They threatened me with that over $17.00 they said I owed.  I disagree with owing them that, but just paid it.

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7 minutes ago, BEC said:

And, for one small mistake on filing, the state can and will padlock the business and freeze all bank accounts unless you very quickly fix whatever they say you need to fix. 

That was my problem as well when I had my computer business.  I sent in my quarterly returns, Ohio said it wasn't OK. I got the exact amount, paid that, it wasn't OK.  I went back and forth with Ohio until I was ready to scream, and producing canceled checks was never enough.

 

I'm not sure if the internet businesses have to collect city and county tax, I was under the impression it was only state tax.  If I'm right about state tax, I'm sure you're right Bob and it won't be long until the city wants theirs, if it's not that way already.

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And another thing while I am in rant mode.  They always talk about internet sales putting a lot of brick and mortar stores out of business.  I can take you around this small town where I live and show you a bunch of those stores that started doing business on the internet and that saved them.   More profitable than they ever were before.  The internet let them go after a customer base many times larger than they had before the internet business.

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Well... to be brutally honest... perhaps the face of retailing is changing forever. In the near future it's going to be entirely possible to be a near 100% online market for most merchandise. With immersive computing and virtual reality, all we need is at hand.

 

Brick and mortar is dying and will die eventually... your holding onto past memories.

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8 minutes ago, mungkiman said:

Does this apply to the Garage Sale section?

 

That will differ by state as well. In Arizona, used items are considered to have been taxed once and thus not subject to further tax (I don't know if this applies to vehicles or other classes of merchandise though).  In other states it doesn't matter-only that it is a sale. (I'm neither an accountant or a lawyer by the way).

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14 minutes ago, dbomberger said:

That will differ by state as well. In Arizona, used items are considered to have been taxed once and thus not subject to further tax (I don't know if this applies to vehicles or other classes of merchandise though).

If I buy a new car it is taxed at 6%.  When I sell it the new buyer will have to pay that value at 6%.  When he sells it, that new buyer will pay 6%, ad infinitum.

 

If you live in Ohio and buy a new car in Ohio you pay the state sales tax.  If you move to West Virginia you have to pay WV sales tax AGAIN just to get it licensed and titled in WV.  Ohio does NOT do the reverse.

 

It's ridiculous and unfair to keep taxing a used car which has already been taxed, but the West Virginia Governor hasn't called to ask my opinion.  🤬

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Some states have no sales tax, but rely on state income tax which is not as regressive. 

 

I assume that the only way income tax is regressive is in instances like Warren Buffet's secretary paying a higher percentage of her income in income tax than Warren does, because Warren makes most of his money by investments, rather than in salary.

 

With income tax, if you have a bad year (or years) you pay less, and in good times you pay more.  What could be fairer?

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Just keep buying from Amazon, helps my state out, many thanks.  Retail wouldn't be dying if people were against buying from the interweb.  No retail outlet can carry as many choices as the internet, meet pricing structures.  Alternatively, I use the web many times to find who has what I want, and then go buy it from them.  Don't want to wait sometimes.  Retail and the entrepreneurial enterprise is the backbone of this country.  The more we let the oligopolies run rampant, the less there is for the baseline.

 

I don't mind paying taxes.  I like nice roads, parks, a well equipped/trained Police force, Firefighters that can fight a volcano, schools that are clean, tooled up, and good teachers (whole other topic), and more.  I don't see why ebay should be exempt from paying up.  Yes, I realize that it ultimately it comes from the buyer, but it provides a second thought in the buyers mind.  "The price isn't that much different, should I buy it from ebay, or go pick it up from Johnny's Sporting Goods?" 

 

My freeform thoughts, limited as usual, I could keep going, but I've said too much, as usual.  Skewer as you will......

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4 hours ago, thebes said:

In a landmark decision in the case of Thebes vs. Thebes, the Supreme Court today, by a margin of 5 to 4, decided in favor of Thebes. 

 

When asked for his reaction Thebes was conflicted, stating he favored state sales taxes on internet sales, while at the same time arguing that he should be exempt, having developed the decisive logic used in the Supreme Court's trenchant decision.

 

Thebes was last seen drinking champagne in his left hand while smacking himself upside the head with his right hand.

http://www.scotusblog.com/2018/06/opinion-analysis-court-expands-states-ability-to-require-internet-retailers-to-collect-sales-tax/

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9 minutes ago, dwilawyer said:

So is this where you hang out when you're not talking Klipsch?  :D

+++

Thanks for the link, I enjoyed reading that.  My mom always told me I should have been a lawyer, but I think that's just because I used to like to argue with her.  😎

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2 hours ago, dwilawyer said:

 

The following quote is borrowed from the above referenced opinion.

 

The majority “proceeds with an inexplicable sense of urgency,” the chief justice said, and it “breezily disregards the costs that its decision will impose on retailers.”

 

 

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I am willing to pay taxes online, I do anywhere else.

 

I did hear the President talk about Amazon getting a Big Break from the Post Office for shipping.

Should Amazon get a shipping break from a PO that can't keep it's head above water?

 

Not trying to hijack this  but the subject here brought this to mind.

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4 hours ago, rebuy said:

I did hear the President talk about Amazon getting a Big Break from the Post Office for shipping. 

Should Amazon get a shipping break from a PO that can't keep it's head above water?

 

Both UPS and Fedex have put tremendous pressure on USPS for parcel shipping.  By law no other company can deliver the mail but thanks to email the snail mail business is way down.

 

To get the Amazon business USPS offers big discounts in shipping.  UPS and Fedex do that as well for their commercial accounts.  The president is correct about the lower rates, but that's just business.

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So, many years ago I moved into my current house.  Of course I knew the county and city that my new house was located (it's right there on the deed and mortgage papers) and I proceeded with the task of changing my address with all the businesses that would need to know such things.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the post office in my city doesn't deliver my mail but a neighboring city does and oh, by the way, you have to put that other city as your address.  I don't like paying city taxes where I don't live and as you might guess the other city has a higher tax rate.  

 

The idea that we don't pay enough taxes is ridiculous.  With the taxes upon taxes that are paid already it is amazing.   It is how it is wasted that sucks.  We watch it happen at every level.  Meanwhile, there are firefighters who qualify for food stamps.  

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