[Marseille]

Originally Posted by jersysman

If you had to collect sales tax, you would need to know over 50 different rates (50 states that vary by county and city). It would be a nightmare for someone who just wants to sell some surplus books.

Well said, and rates aren't the only issue. What about exemptions in those thousands of city/county/state combos and the interpretations thereof? Will web sites be collecting special "sin" taxes on the products of ill repute in every jurisdiction? Any single regulatory system can be a nightmare to navigate. I'm not even sure there's a word for the pain of navigating thousands of different systems, but if there is, it's probably not the kind you can use in polite company.

Originally Posted by forbes

Forcing online vendors to collect local taxes would create significant burdens on interstate commerce. There are approximately 7,400 local jurisdictions in the U.S. and different definitions and exemptions further complicate the code. For example, is a cookie a “candy,” (which is taxed in most jurisdictions) or a “baked good,” (which is typically tax-exempt)?

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

if they didn't like that then they could move their sales force to somewhere else- say Oregon- and then they wouldnt have to collect a sales tax.

That definitely seems more sane than taxing based on the point of consumption, and does less to encourage poor governance. Anyone who enjoys employment should want states competing to bring in businesses. That's a rare game where even the losers win.

Originally Posted by forbes

If you buy a book in a Seattle bookstore, the local sales tax rate applies, regardless of where you “consume” it. Why not tax Net sales the same way? Under an origin-based sourcing rule, all sales would be sourced to the principal place of business for the seller and taxed accordingly.

State officials protest the vigorous tax competition such a sourcing rule would spawn since some companies might locate their business in more hospitable tax environments. But that’s real federalism at work. Federal lawmakers should favor it over the cozy tax cartel the states want them to bless.