Sony plans UK e-reader launch at London BookFair 2008

[petermillard]

Hmmmm. London Book Fair's still six months away (mid-April '08); could be a critical period for others (Cybook, Amazon - maybe even Apple's "iPad"??) to get their acts together.

Or do you think it's just a 'spoiler' from Sony to knock back anyone thinking of a Cybook for Christmas?

Whatever, interesting times

[JSWolf]

Once factor that's going to be a big deal is price. A lot of people a grumbling over the EU price for the Cybook and it's not yet released.

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Once factor that's going to be a big deal is price. A lot of people a grumbling over the EU price for the Cybook and it's not yet released.

Forgive me if I'm wrong Jon but in Europe taxes are set in the price. When you factor in US taxes doesn't it amount to about the same? Here in Canada it's 15.025% plus 2.6% for foreign electronics, that comes to roughly $410.00CAD; Canadian dollar is at parity with US these days. What would the total price come up to in the States, like your State for example?

[JSWolf]

If the price here in Massachusetts is $350 and I get it from a vendor in Massachusetts then we get charged %5 sales take for a cost of $367.50. But, if I was to rder one online from a vendor who does not have a presence in Massachusetts, then I don't have to pay sales tax. Just shipping. But a lot of vendors don't charge shipping if I spend enough so maybe just $350 would be the cost. Worst case would be adding shipping which would cost less then sales tax.

[Leaping Gnome]

Originally Posted by pkgreader

Do you think they'll let us onto eConnect store then? Or do you reckon it will be only US and UK residents??

I hate that something fierce. I don't know how to get stuff onto my eReader!!!

Send me a PM if you want, we can arrange a paypal exchange and I'll give you a giftcode you can redeem at the Connect store to buy books.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If the price here in Massachusetts is $350 and I get it from a vendor in Massachusetts then we get charged %5 sales take for a cost of $367.50. But, if I was to rder one online from a vendor who does not have a presence in Massachusetts, then I don't have to pay sales tax. Just shipping. But a lot of vendors don't charge shipping if I spend enough so maybe just $350 would be the cost. Worst case would be adding shipping which would cost less then sales tax.

On that note, we in the US just dodged a bullet: Congress has postponed (again) a resolution to force all states to charge sales taxes for all online sales, not just the state from which you are ordering (if the store is in the same state as you). It will probably come up again, but most likely sometime after the elections are over.

[Leaping Gnome]

It's a good thing too!

[bowerbird]

sony, a company with an actual machine for sale, makes an announcement
_6_months_in_advance_ when that machine will be available in a new place.

yet somehow, people here expect amazon will drop a machine _this_month_
here in the u.s., yet amazon hasn't issued _one_peep_ to the press about it?

i don't know where you guys get your drugs, but i sure _wish_ i did...

-bowerbird

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by bowerbird

sony, a company with an actual machine for sale, makes an announcement
_6_months_in_advance_ when that machine will be available in a new place.

yet somehow, people here expect amazon will drop a machine _this_month_
here in the u.s., yet amazon hasn't issued _one_peep_ to the press about it?

i don't know where you guys get your drugs, but i sure _wish_ i did...

-bowerbird

Sony didn't announce. It was leaked.

But you are correct in that they leaked it on purpose.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If the price here in Massachusetts is $350 and I get it from a vendor in Massachusetts then we get charged %5 sales take for a cost of $367.50. But, if I was to rder one online from a vendor who does not have a presence in Massachusetts, then I don't have to pay sales tax. Just shipping. But a lot of vendors don't charge shipping if I spend enough so maybe just $350 would be the cost. Worst case would be adding shipping which would cost less then sales tax.

But, if my understanding of US tax system is correct (which it may not be!), wouldn't you have to pay the equivalent of sales tax as "use tax", anyway?

[Liviu_5]

Originally Posted by HarryT

But, if my understanding of US tax system is correct (which it may not be!), wouldn't you have to pay the equivalent of sales tax as "use tax", anyway?

That's true but nobody does it and most people do not know that it's required, though some states started to put a special line on the tax-form to ask specifically about that. Since it cannot be enforced (as opposed to RIAA, the state politicians need to be reelected after all, so they cannot target 100 people out of millions at random ), the "remedy" is to pass a "uniformization" rule that would impose on the vendor the requirement to collect the tax irrespective of location, the way physical retailers do it.


Until now, the big online only retailers that do not charge tax so benefit immensely (Ebay, Amazon) fought successfully the uniformization rule, while Wal Mart, Target, B&N and others that have nexus everywhere started fighting hard for the tax to "level the playing field"

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Liviu_5

That's true but nobody does it and most people do not know that it's required, though some states started to put a special line on the tax-form to ask specifically about that. Since it cannot be enforced (as opposed to RIAA, the state politicians need to be reelected after all, so they cannot target 100 people out of millions at random ), the "remedy" is to pass a "uniformization" rule that would impose on the vendor the requirement to collect the tax irrespective of location, the way physical retailers do it.


Until now, the big online only retailers that do not charge tax so benefit immensely (Ebay, Amazon) fought successfully the uniformization rule, while Wal Mart, Target, B&N and others that have nexus everywhere started fighting hard for the tax to "level the playing field"

I agree with you that paying sales tax regardless of where you buy from would be the sensible option, but I'm a bit puzzled about why use tax can't be enforced. Why can't the IRS (or whoever it is that's responsible for it) simply take a random sampling of sales records from retailers and check to see if the customer has declared the amount for use tax? That's the way that the authorities do VAT checks here.

Surely a massive amount of tax evasion is going on if what you say is true (and I'm certainly not doubting you!). I'm amazed that the government is willing to let that much revenue go uncollected!

It used to be the case that online sales didn't have to charge VAT here, but the EU closed that "loophole" some years ago. If a company is now registered any in the EU (as, for example, eBay and Amazon are), they have to charge customers VAT for any online transaction.

[yvanleterrible]

A resident of one State does not have to pay taxes of an other State.
In Canada a resident from a Province does not have to pay taxes of an other Province also but there is a base Federal tax of 6.5%.

[HarryT]

Use tax is not paying the taxes of another state. It's being honest enough to pay the taxes of your own state for goods purchased outside it.

[jasonkchapman]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I agree with you that paying sales tax regardless of where you buy from would be the sensible option, but I'm a bit puzzled about why use tax can't be enforced. Why can't the IRS (or whoever it is that's responsible for it) simply take a random sampling of sales records from retailers and check to see if the customer has declared the amount for use tax? That's the way that the authorities do VAT checks here.

It's federalism at work. We have no national sales tax. Sales taxes are state taxes, and state governments only have the right to levy taxes on transactions that occur within their state. Further, the US constitution explicitly prohibits states from taxing or regulating interstate commerce. That is strictly the purview of the federal government.