Supreme Court overturns Quill, subjects all internet transactions to sales tax

[Leon]

Below what I had said, I said I know it was not a new tax. But in reality *(as in really paying) it is for a lot of people. As you might remember I sold computers and services for many years. I fought this issue many, many years ago when I sold out of a brick and mortar and the internet popped up. I was at an immediate tax disadvantage. At that time, this mess was just starting and usury taxes weren't as talked about as they have been since then, at least from what I remember in pre-internet sales days.

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I agree with all except the last sentence: this is not the enactment of a new tax. This is a court ruling overturning a prior court ruling that banned the enforcement of an existing tax. Nor does it inflict a new burden on the buyer. If your state collects sales tax you are supposed to pay a corresponding use tax on anything you bring into the state untaxed. It is supposed to equalize the playing field for local businesses. Fact is, most people don't bother to pay the use tax, they just blow it off, so it feels like a new tax. But it isn't.

Where the real new tax will come is when Congress enacts a value added tax (VAT) on each level of sale, which exists in virtually all other Western nations.