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Old 10-06-2012, 10:50 PM   #1
scrapking
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Posts: 467
Karma: 1073260
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Victoria, BC
Device: Kobo Vox, Kobo Glo
Amazon and the sales tax question

Amazon goes out of its way to avoid having to collect sales taxes for its customers. They modify their business practices (such as threatening to cut all link affiliates in North Carolina when that state attempted to use them as a way to force Amazon to collect tax in the state) and do absolutely anything they can to avoid it.

This doesn't exempt the customer from owing the tax, it merely puts the onus on the customer to voluntarily remit it. I'm curious, has *anyone* on this site ever done so?

I see people talking about religious/theological books, or about various moral/ethical issues, on this site. Sometimes I happen to observe that they list a Kindle of some description as their device of choice, and happen to live in a jurisdiction where Amazon doesn't collect the tax on their behalf. I can't help but wonder, do they know? Do they do as required of them by law? Most people interpret Christianity, for example, as requiring its followers to pay all taxes they owe (render unto Caesar, etc.).

I'm curious how people who live in those jurisdictions feel about this, and how they act in response to it. My personal approach is to do use all legal means available to me to reduce my tax bill, but to pay every penny of tax I owe. When a store offers for me to get a discount in exchange for paying with cash and it not being rung into the till, I always decline. If I even suspect there's a tiny chance that this might occur, I make sure to pay with debit or credit so that it has to be rung into the till by the proprietor. I enjoy the services taxes pay for, so it would be immoral of me not to pay my fair share IMO.
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