Quote:
Originally Posted by Exhibitman
All the angst is over nothing: even if e-tailers are required to collect sales tax on everything the net effect is ZERO. None of these purchases are tax-free under current law. If your state has a sales tax it has an analogous use tax you are supposed to pay for the stuff that you import for your use in-state without paying a sales tax. All the precedent allows for with interstate sales is for the retailers to devolve the duty to collect and remit the tax to the customers. Before the internet and e-filed taxes, it was a miserable chore to track sales in 50 jurisdictions (and the many special tax zones in each state) and do hard copy returns and remit. Now, with most of the states allowing for online remittance and filing, and with sophisticated accounting software that allows easy tracking of sales by jurisdiction, it is much easier for a retailer to remit in multiple states, and there is a movement afoot to re-involve the retailers in collecting and remitting sales tax instead of hoping that the buyers will track and remit. The only people hurt by this will be the scofflaws who don't pay their taxes now.
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Adam,
Thank you. Still, even with the software, that is a mess in my opinion.