Sales Tax for you

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Nov 8, 2012
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Yeah but how does the State expect people to pay use taxes on items brought before the law required them to do? You mention 10 years prior.

"Before the law required them to do?"

Uhhhhh...bud...it's always been required lol. It's just something everyone ignored in the past - and as sales start to shift more to online and shipping products, jurisdictions decided they had to get more savvy instead of depending on people to self-report.
 
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RadiclDreamer

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2004
8,622
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Whatever you're referring to is strictly your state.

What state are you in by the way?



This. NOMAD States - New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska, Delaware.

Either way it's pick your poison.
1. Sales Tax
2. State Income Tax
3. Property taxes

OF the 3 types of taxes above states generally choose 2 out of the 3. Well - unless you're in a liberal state like CA, NY, or IL.... then you get to pay all 3 :) Enjoy.

I will take #1 and #3 a million times over #2 personally.

WV has all 3 and dont forget we have 6% state sales, 1% city sales, a few bucks a month just to work in the city in a lot of our cities, gas tax, federal tax, car tax, toll roads, school levies et al. Its beyond ridiculous.
 

Luna1968

Golden Member
Mar 9, 2019
1,202
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my state has a line in the tax form to ask how much taxes i paid or all online purchases? who keeps track of that? thats like asking much state tax i paid in gas the following year.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,459
12,613
126
www.anyf.ca
LOL, you think people starting their own online business are individually coding their websites for each zip code? There are software packages and payment portals that can handle the bulk of that sales tax work - big and small companies buy them to comply with state laws.

And you don't pay the sales tax for the state that the site is based out of because the end user is supposed to be paying it. That's why you would either pay sales tax for an item you bought in-state, or use-tax for an item you bought out of state and didn't pay sales tax for (and if you paid sales tax in another state, you could technically file for a credit against the use tax you would have owed)

Why not? If they are starting it means they don't have lot of money to pay a professional. Even someone absolutely not technical might just have an email address setup where people can email how many of the item they want and then pay via paypal or something. Or something a bit more sophisticated that ties into a CC processor. Point is, with this new law they've taken something that was once simple to code and made it super complicated for nothing. Not everyone can afford to hire a programmer or use a premade software or even wants to.
 
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Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,459
12,613
126
www.anyf.ca
my state has a line in the tax form to ask how much taxes i paid or all online purchases? who keeps track of that? thats like asking much state tax i paid in gas the following year.

You should see the type of stuff they expect if you deal with crypto (at least in Canada). It's retardedly complicated. It's why I got out of it. They also don't really explain in enough details. I read on the requirements but I still don't know HOW to even claim it. Like what do I tell my tax person, what do I show them, what format does it have to be in? etc.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,981
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I proposed(to no one in particular) a uniform online tax. Average all the different states tax rates, and they get that for online purchases. Some will make out, some will lose a little, but it makes things easier for everyone, and would make the price gap close enough in the "winner" states to not be worth ordering online vs buying locally to save a small amount of money.
 
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Nov 8, 2012
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I proposed(to no one in particular) a uniform online tax. Average all the different states tax rates, and they get that for online purchases. Some will make out, some will lose a little, but it makes things easier for everyone, and would make the price gap close enough in the "winner" states to not be worth ordering online vs buying locally to save a small amount of money.

Nope. Not gonna happen - will never happen.

5 states (In addition to DC) that do not have a sales tax. Also just a huge range of tax rates. E.g. Downtown Chicago is something like... 10.50%. Other states might only be 2%.

Each state/jurisdiction taxes products differently. Many states have many other types of sales tax fees that are in addition to sales tax (e.g. Battery/CORE disposal fee, CA LCD Monitor disposal fee, tire disposal fee, etc.)

Also a standardization of the state sales taxes was proposed and they tried to get it through congress a couple times if I recall correctly. All times it failed though.

If anything we may eventually see a Federal VAT on top of the sales tax though.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,981
8,219
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Nope. Not gonna happen - will never happen.
Make it happen. That's the purview of the federal government. States can either accept it, or figure it out on their own(cause that's worked out well so far). In your simple case of 2% vs 10.5% the 10.5%ers can take 6.25% and be happy with it, cause it's 6.25% more than they've gotten so far.
 
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Nov 8, 2012
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Make it happen. That's the purview of the federal government. States can either accept it, or figure it out on their own(cause that's worked out well so far). In your simple case of 2% vs 10.5% the 10.5%ers can take 6.25% and be happy with it, cause it's 6.25% more than they've gotten so far.

lol don't ask me, I'm obviously going to be bias since I have a lot of knowledge around this topic and there are multiple companies that sell software that is dependent upon these complexities :p
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,459
12,613
126
www.anyf.ca
Really the whole tax system needs to seriously be streamlined. Get rid of every single tax, replace it with 1 tax that is the same system across the board. I don't care if it's income tax, or sales tax or property tax or whatever, but as long as there is only one. Income tax would probably be the easiest and fairest. And only tax job income not hobby income because then it's back to square one where it makes everything complicated. Set it to 50% but it's the only tax you ever pay. As it is now more than half of your money is already taxed anyway so it would come up to the same, but it would streamline the whole system. Make the money distribute to all the tiers of government from there. While they're at it get rid of loopholes where rich can avoid taxes.

Of course this will never happen, I'm just saying it should. Would make everyone's lives easier.
 
Nov 8, 2012
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The problem is it's a complex subject.

Not trying to make this political, but folks like to think that in places like Europe they tax the rich more. Couldn't be further from the truth.

While income taxes are usually much more progressive, sales tax and VAT are regressive. So if people want to be more like Europe, I hope they like paying the likes of 17% VAT and the bottom half paying income taxes.

That's generally why it's good to have a good mix of tax types.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,981
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I'm a fan of regressive taxes. They get charged to the people using the services. I'm also a fan of fiscal responsibility though. I'd like to see much less waste. We could have some nice stuff if money was spent like it was their own.
 

highland145

Lifer
Oct 12, 2009
43,936
6,310
136
I'm a fan of regressive taxes. They get charged to the people using the services. I'm also a fan of fiscal responsibility though. I'd like to see much less waste. We could have some nice stuff if money was spent like it was their own.
Problem with that is the poor man gets effed the hardest because he has little disposable income. He has to pay sales/gas/property tax.
 
Dec 10, 2005
25,056
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Problem with that is the poor man gets effed the hardest because he has little disposable income. He has to pay sales/gas/property tax.
Once someone understands marginal utility [of money], they'll understand that regressive taxes are probably one of the most unfair way to tax people.
 
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KMFJD

Lifer
Aug 11, 2005
30,031
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Once someone understands marginal utility [of money], they'll understand that regressive taxes are probably one of the most unfair way to tax people.
Regressive tax
A regressive tax is a tax which takes a higher percentage of tax revenue from those on low incomes. As income increases, the proportion of your income paid in tax falls.
regressive-tax
Suppose there is a poll tax of £3,000 (paid regardless of income)
In this case, the person earning £10,000 is paying 30% of their income in tax £3,000
Someone earning £30,000 is paying 10% of their income in tax £3,000
Someone earning £100,000 would pay just 3.33% of their income in tax.
Examples of regressive taxes
1. Gambling taxes – Those on low incomes have a high propensity to spend money on gambling and therefore pay a higher percentage of their income on gambling taxes.
2. Excise duty. Those on high income may spend more on petrol, but it is unlikely to be too significant, therefore as your income rises, the percentage of your income going on petrol tax is likely to fall.


If i were rich I should love a regressive tax plan.....


The idea always sounds appealing — at least I thought it did…read on — because everyone, present company included, hates the complexity in the tax code, and its proponents sell the flat tax as the perfect antidote.

Unfortunately, it’s far from perfect and in any real-world incarnation would be a lot worse than the current code on at least two key dimensions: fairness and fiscal. It’s a highly regressive tax that would mean the loss of gobs of revenue.
 

BarkingGhostar

Diamond Member
Nov 20, 2009
8,409
1,617
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I do not have a problem with online businesses collecting sales tax as if I purchased it locally. What I have a problem is a business doing so and then not giving said collected sales tax to my local government. How can online consumers verify that? They can't.
 
Nov 8, 2012
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It all depends. If you're a coke snorting wall street buff buying yachts, new cars, and new homes all the time - then regressive taxes aren't all that great for you.

The problem arises when you have the warren buffets of the world that live content with mediocre things and thus don't pay said regressive taxes. And to be honest - most people in this country are simply too dumb to understand this. You don't need a house that costs $600k+ and new shiny cars all the time.

Just like sales tax, property taxes are regressive - It's just that plenty of people have to keep up with the Jones' and live in a high dollar place for no real reason.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
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The idea always sounds appealing — at least I thought it did…read on — because everyone, present company included, hates the complexity in the tax code, and its proponents sell the flat tax as the perfect antidote.

Unfortunately, it’s far from perfect and in any real-world incarnation would be a lot worse than the current code on at least two key dimensions: fairness and fiscal. It’s a highly regressive tax that would mean the loss of gobs of revenue.

Not really. If we had a flat tax the bottom 50% would actually be contributing instead of being a net negative or 0 to the federal income tax. Is it fair that half the nation pays nothing? That doesn't sound progressive or regressive. It sounds like you're putting all your eggs in one basket of depending on the rich.... Except unlike the poor, the rich can do things to avoid taxation.

Also on that note of tax avoidance: Regressive taxes are much harder to avoid paying.
 

slayer202

Lifer
Nov 27, 2005
13,679
119
106
I do not have a problem with online businesses collecting sales tax as if I purchased it locally. What I have a problem is a business doing so and then not giving said collected sales tax to my local government. How can online consumers verify that? They can't.

You think business owners are going to risk jail time to skim 7% off a low enough portion of sales as to avoid risking detection? And like someone mentioned above, that tax collection is likely automated, not being calculated and collected by hand. Ehh, that should be the least of your worries.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
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You think business owners are going to risk jail time to skim 7% off a low enough portion of sales as to avoid risking detection? And like someone mentioned above, that tax collection is likely automated, not being calculated and collected by hand. Ehh, that should be the least of your worries.

The amount of shit you can get in trouble for collecting a sales tax and not remitting it is UUUUUUUUUUUGE.


Everyone knows the ol' phrase... 2 things in life guaranteed... Death and taxes ;)
 
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highland145

Lifer
Oct 12, 2009
43,936
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The amount of shit you can get in trouble for collecting a sales tax and not remitting it is UUUUUUUUUUUGE.


Everyone knows the ol' phrase... 2 things in life guaranteed... Death and taxes ;)
2 local quick stop owners just got locked up but they owed $100K+ each.
 

KMFJD

Lifer
Aug 11, 2005
30,031
45,270
136
Not really. If we had a flat tax the bottom 50% would actually be contributing instead of being a net negative or 0 to the federal income tax. Is it fair that half the nation pays nothing? That doesn't sound progressive or regressive. It sounds like you're putting all your eggs in one basket of depending on the rich.... Except unlike the poor, the rich can do things to avoid taxation.

Also on that note of tax avoidance: Regressive taxes are much harder to avoid paying.

What part of this did you not understand?

Suppose there is a poll tax of £3,000 (paid regardless of income)
In this case, the person earning £10,000 is paying 30% of their income in tax £3,000
Someone earning £30,000 is paying 10% of their income in tax £3,000
Someone earning £100,000 would pay just 3.33% of their income in tax.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
4,777
146
What part of this did you not understand?

Suppose there is a poll tax of £3,000 (paid regardless of income)
In this case, the person earning £10,000 is paying 30% of their income in tax £3,000
Someone earning £30,000 is paying 10% of their income in tax £3,000
Someone earning £100,000 would pay just 3.33% of their income in tax.

Wut? Where is anyone proposing taxation based on a flat dollar amount? That simply doesn't exist. The nearest equivalent (that I'm aware of in the states) is something such as a car registration fee I guess. But that is based on what the government estimates as a cost of upkeep for such.

Flat tax doesn't mean a flat dollar amount broceritops.