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Originally Posted by HarryT
Then would a practical solution not simply be to extend this to all online retailers?
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If you simply had it so only state sales taxes gets collected, then yes.
But, people are arguing about how the taxes should be handled. The argument has been that only entities that do business in that state are allowed to collect the state's sales tax. That is why currently only companies with physical locations in a state will collect for that state. Due to this is why some want the point of sale to be considered the location of the customer, and not the business. That solves the problem of making everyone collect the taxes, but it also makes a bigger mess of it by including local taxes as well as the state.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Can you explain what you mean by "get your plates"? In the UK, the number plate (which I believe you call "license plate") is associated with the car, not its owner. Are the plates associated with the owner in the US? When a car is sold, its new owner puts new plates on it?
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Some states do it that way by keeping the plates to just the vehicle, such as California, but many states the license plates (or number plates, which ever you prefer), are associated with the owner of the vehicle, and are limited to that specific vehicle. For instance, the plates on my Crown Victoria are registered to me, but I can only use them on my Crown Vic, I can't buy another car and slap them on the new car, unless I pay a fee to transfer them to the new car (which at that point they could only be used on the new car, and cannot still be used on the Crown Vic even if I still own it).
For most people, they end up getting new plates with every vehicle they buy, and the old plates from cars they sold get tossed in the garage. I've always transferred my plates to my new cars though. Last time I got a car, my old one was totalled just a month after I paid 2 year registration on it. It was cheaper to transfer the plates, and use the remainder of the 2 years. Transfer fee is $2, where your registration fee is based on taxable horsepower (a giant confusing mess). I'd have paid nearly $80 for 2 year plates if I had got new ones.
Also, periodically, the states will change the design of the plates, and everyone gets issued new plates.