[nylug-talk] [OT] internet sales tax for NY in Dec. and the US?

[Alex Pilosov]

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007, Kevin Mark wrote:

> Hi NY residents who shop on ´the tubes',
> 
> Just heard about this issue where Spitzer is challanging a SCOTUS
> ruling which disallowed sales tax to be collected on the internet. This
> what the reporter on this site[0] says about it:
> 
> Such a move would be in direct defiance of the letter and principle of
> the National Bellas Hess decision rendered by the United State Supreme
> Court in 1967, and which has been the law of the land ever since. Simply
> put, the ruling provided that, unless a company had a physical nexus in
> a particular state other than its own, e.g. brick and mortar offices or
> sales outlets, sales reps, etc. it could not be required to collect and
> remit sales taxes on behalf of other states from sales made to residents
> of those states by mail order or phone.
> 
> Such a move would allow the current federal moritorium on internet taxes
> to be overruled. Yikes!
As usual, ill-informed people are confused.

a) This has nothing to do with "moratorium on internet taxes". Despite 
what you might think, the moratorium exempts internet service (such as 
your DSL/cable/whatever) from taxes, not stuff you buy on the interwebs.

a) If you are unaware, you *are* supposed to pay sales taxes on stuff you
buy from amazon.com, if you are NYS resident. You pay it on your
individual tax return. Its just that almost everyone breaks the law. That 
doesn't mean its not the law.

c) States lost a *lot* of sales tax dollars due to mail-order interwebs 
outlets.

d) This is an attempt to get amazon to *collect and remit* sales taxes.  
Frankly, it will happen, and you should get used to it. What is likely to
happen is interstate compact that would make each state to require each
company operating within the state to collect and remit sales taxes due
and payable to other states. There's already one interstate compact for
that which doesn't cover specifically these kind of sales but it will 
likely amended to do so.

Sky is not falling.

-alex