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Originally Posted by HarryT
Yep, and how many people walk through the "green" customs channel rather than declaring their purchases? Doesn't make it legal to do so. ...
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I don't believe people are saying it makes it legal. You said:
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... Any taxation system that relies on people voluntarily paying it is doomed to failure.
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Hasn't this declaration been around for decades/centuries. Seems like a rather slow doom rate.
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... There is, though, a difference between that and the sales tax/use tax situation. Unless you're going to have mandatory searches of everyone's luggage as they enter a country, the current system of relying on voluntary declaration backed up by random searches is probably the only practical way to do it. The US system of relying on voluntary payment of use tax, on the other hand, could easily be changed to a system whereby all retailers charge sales tax for online purchases, instead of the current rather odd system of only charging sales tax if the retailer has a physical presence in a state.
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And people are arguing since there are so many variations of sales taxes, it isn't feasible; just like mandatory searches of people's luggage.