The end of the line for the tax holiday from Amazon

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

They still will only collect sales tax in states with a big physical presence,

You obviously don't know what you're talking about. They've been collecting sales tax in SC where I live for a couple of years now. That state is neither large in a geographic sense nor in a population sense.

BTW it did not change my shopping habits. I shop online not to get out of taxes but out of convenience. Before they started taxing per purchase I paid it all for the year when I paid my taxes. So I pay it either way.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

You obviously don't know what you're talking about. They've been collecting sales tax in SC where I live for a couple of years now. That state is neither large in a geographic sense nor in a population sense.

BTW it did not change my shopping habits. I shop online not to get out of taxes but out of convenience. Before they started taxing per purchase I paid it all for the year when I paid my taxes. So I pay it either way.

You are misreading that sentence.
The big presence refers to Amazon not the state.
And big in this legal context means actual full time employees, not sales reps or traveling salesmen or websites.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

VAT is misleading. The consumer gets no added value. So yeah, sales tax and VAT are the same thing. It's just that VAT is a higher rate.

The difference isn't just semantics.
In practical terms, sales taxes tax consumption whereas VAT taxes productivity.
This is clearly noticeable in things like "sin taxes", sales taxes on cigarettes and alcoholic beverages, and gasoline taxes, both of which are intended to reduce consumption as well as raise revenue.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

The difference isn't just semantics.
In practical terms, sales taxes tax consumption whereas VAT taxes productivity.
This is clearly noticeable in things like "sin taxes", sales taxes on cigarettes and alcoholic beverages, and gasoline taxes, both of which are intended to reduce consumption as well as raise revenue.

VAT is not a sales tax, full stop. It's a tax, but it's not a sales tax.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

VAT is not a sales tax, full stop. It's a tax, but it's not a sales tax.

It taxes economic activities other than just consumption so no, it's not a sales tax. Anybody who thinks that isn't really paying attention.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

It taxes economic activities other than just consumption so no, it's not a sales tax. Anybody who thinks that isn't really paying attention.

Are you listening, Jon?

[Blossom]

Missouri has very low sales tax 4.2% but they do not tax any digital content or subscriptions. It must be tangible.
I don't see this effecting me much. I stopped buying online unless it's digital content months ago. I can get everything​ local much cheaper.

Sent from my Nexus 7

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I stopped buying online unless it's digital content months ago. I can get everything​ local much cheaper.

Do you place no value on your time, though? With the exception of food, I buy most things online simply as a matter of convenience. If I want (to pick a random example) a new ink cartridge for my photo printer, it's so much easier to go to Amazon's website and click the "buy now" button, knowing it'll arrive at my door the next day, than it is to get my car out, drive into the nearest town, find somewhere to park, walk to the shop that sells ink cartridges, try to find the right cartridge in the shop, etc etc...

[patrik]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Missouri has very low sales tax 4.2% but they do not tax any digital content or subscriptions. It must be tangible.
I don't see this effecting me much. I stopped buying online unless it's digital content months ago. I can get everything​ local much cheaper.

Sent from my Nexus 7

We have a very strange system...

If you print a book, or sell your audio book on a CD/DVD, there is 6% tax.
But if you sell it as an ebook, or a downloadable audio book, there is 25% tax.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by patrik

We have a very strange system...

If you print a book, or sell your audio book on a CD/DVD, there is 6% tax.
But if you sell it as an ebook, or a downloadable audio book, there is 25% tax.

Yep. No VAT on printed books in Britain; 20% VAT on ebooks.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Do you place no value on your time, though? With the exception of food, I buy most things online simply as a matter of convenience. If I want (to pick a random example) a new ink cartridge for my photo printer, it's so much easier to go to Amazon's website and click the "buy now" button, knowing it'll arrive at my door the next day, than it is to get my car out, drive into the nearest town, find somewhere to park, walk to the shop that sells ink cartridges, try to find the right cartridge in the shop, etc etc...

Best Buy is right down the street. I can reserve what I need online and pick up local. Not that I have done that lately. Right now things I buy online are cheaper or equal than paying Amazon prices. I use to buy disposable gloves on Amazon. I can get them cheaper down the street at Walgreens. I use to buy Cottonelle Wipes again Walgreens or Walmart has them​ equal or cheaper. I have to buy water, ice and soda twice a week so I just pick things up then. No extra trips needed and my mail lady thanks me not having to climb the stairs anymore to my apartment.

Sent from my XT1528

[Apache]

In Georgia, unless they pass an exception, if it is tangible the merchant must collect sales tax. If it is not tangible you do not charge a sales tax. Florida does tax non tangible items. Georgia has a state income tax and Florida doesn't. Each state decides for itself how to generate income to provide the services it's residents require.
Apache

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Apache

In Georgia, unless they pass an exception, if it is tangible the merchant must collect sales tax. If it is not tangible you do not charge a sales tax. Florida does tax non tangible items. Georgia has a state income tax and Florida doesn't. Each state decides for itself how to generate income to provide the services it's residents require.
Apache

I personally much prefer the word "physical" over "tangible" for this kind of meaning.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by frahse

I personally much prefer the word "physical" over "tangible" for this kind of meaning.

"Tangible" mean "you can touch it". Isn't that pretty much the same thing as "physical"?

[Apache]

Originally Posted by frahse

I personally much prefer the word "physical" over "tangible" for this kind of meaning.

Originally Posted by HarryT

"Tangible" mean "you can touch it". Isn't that pretty much the same thing as "physical"?

The majority of people who write our laws have a legal background.
We might prefer simpler language but, unfortunately the public rarely gets what it wants. Not when special interest groups slither over and raise their heads.
Apache