Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
As I say, Xenophon, I'm just a bit surprised that the collection of what must a huge amount of money, nation-wide, isn't enforced. State governments must be losing billions in revenue collectively by not doing so.
|
There is no way to enforce it and make sense; only when someone buy a million dollar painting to hang it in his NYC office, but declares he bought it for his home somewhere else to avoid paying the NY state high sales tax, then the law gets enforced. Also for car buying, you pay your county sales tax wherever you buy it... For small transactions it's just not worth it, and the only way to try would be the RIAA way, make an example of some random citizens out of milions; that would cost elections so ....
There are above 10000 different jurisdictions, and each taxes different things (in PA or NJ you do not pay tax on clothes, so you go buy there and come back to NY theoretically you should pay the NY tax but again...); even in NY when they declare a tax holiday on clothing, local stores have trouble adjusting; is it the full 8.5 tax rebated, or just the 4.25 state part and not the 4.25 NYC tax; does this apply to shoes?, to belts ?... the local tabloids have a field day going in stores and making trouble for the confused merchants by pointing that either they charged too much tax or too little; you get the idea...