Taxes for online shopping gaining support in Congress and Amazon

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by Apache

If you live in Connecticut you are charged a view tax. If you have a nice view you pay more. One man sued when his neighbor cut down trees. The man suddenly had a much better view and his view tax went up. He lost the case.
Apache

That is ridiculous! I can think of an apropos Beatles song...

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by Apache

If you live in Connecticut you are charged a view tax. If you have a nice view you pay more. One man sued when his neighbor cut down trees. The man suddenly had a much better view and his view tax went up. He lost the case.
Apache

The issue I have with that is views are highly subjective. I personally would love to have a house surrounded by trees, and that would be worth more to me than having sight past the end of my property.

[Indio777]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

FL... They have TV spots around tax time reminding people about which forms to use, and how much jail time they can face if they don't do it. They send out mailers with the same information. It's not only for online / mail order purchases - if you go on vacation to a state with a lower sales tax, you have to pay the difference on anything you buy and bring home. They make sure you know this. I'm surprised they don't have their own "interstate customs" officers at the airports and borders.

What if you go on vacation to a state with a higher sales tax? Would Florida refund the difference? Could be wrong, but I kind of doubt it.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

That is ridiculous!

It's just the way it was presented that makes it sound that way.

Properties with wonderful vistas (wonderful by the standards of the average home buyer) have a higher property value compared with houses next door to a brand new trash dump -- even if the houses are identical and in the same town. When houses are re-appraised for property tax purposes, location is quite properly considered. That all the anti-tax-activist phrase "view tax" means.

[Fluribus]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Sounds as if there might be a real opportunity for someone to sell access to a web service which gets passed a location and some kind of product category identifier, and returns a tax percentage. Charge a fraction of a cent for each access, and there might be real money in it.

It would be ironic if someone did this in Oregon (or one of the other states without a sales tax).

[Apache]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

It's just the way it was presented that makes it sound that way.

Properties with wonderful vistas (wonderful by the standards of the average home buyer) have a higher property value compared with houses next door to a brand new trash dump -- even if the houses are identical and in the same town. When houses are re-appraised for property tax purposes, location is quite properly considered. That all the anti-tax-activist phrase "view tax" means.

Most states base your property taxes on how much similar homes are selling for in your neighborhood. By deliberately increasing the value of the one home over another just because the view is better out the window is just another way government can increase your tax burden. And as stated views are subjective. I also would prefer to have the trees. Are they also going to charge higher property taxes if your yard is greener than your neighbor's? If you have 10 trees on your property and your neighbor has 5, is your property worth more? Trees can be sold for money.
Apache

Towns cannot impose a separate tax or fee on a property because of its view. But the tax assessment can reflect the view's effect on a property's fair market value. Towns must assess property based on its present true and actual value (i. e. , fair market value), which means the price the owner can obtain in any transaction that is not a forced or auction sale (CGS § 12-63).

A property's fair market value depends on many different factors, including its location and physical characteristics. The statutes do not specify the factors towns must include or exclude. Case law suggests that towns must weigh all of the factors that ultimately affect the property's fair market value:


A state, when assessing tangible property for tax purposes, has the right to use any fair formula which will give effect to the intangible factors which influence the real value of the property. All that can be required is that the assessors exercise an honest judgment, based upon the information they possess or are able to acquire (72 AmJur 2d, pp. 754-5).

WHEN John Kryszpin moved into his expensive new home atop Taine Mountain in Burlington, Conn., three months ago and looked out his picture window for the first time, he was thrilled with the view that stretches more than 20 miles across hills and valleys and into Massachusetts.

But his pleasure turned to outrage a month later when the Town of Burlington sent him a tax bill for $6,000 that included a surcharge of $1,150 and labeled the amount ''view.''
Exactly how many residents of Burlington have had view taxes put on their properties is unclear, but there could be be scores. The deepening dispute over what some property owners describe as new and bizarre forms of taxation in Burlington, according to some residents, is the biggest local battle since the massacre of settlers by Redcoats and Indians at Forty Fort in 1778.

Some legislative and academic experts in the fields of property valuation and taxation in Connecticut have raised questions about the legality of imposing a surcharge for such things as views, architectural style and the use of brick exteriors rather than wood.

Town officials insist that they are within their rights in adding the surcharges because pleasant views and fancy architecture add to property values.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Apache

Most states base your property taxes on how much similar homes are selling for in your neighborhood. By deliberately increasing the value of the one home over another just because the view is better out the window is just another way government can increase your tax burden. And as stated views are subjective. I also would prefer to have the trees. Are they also going to charge higher property taxes if your yard is greener than your neighbor's? If you have 10 trees on your property and your neighbor has 5, is your property worth more? Trees can be sold for money.
Apache

Basing a tax on a home's fair market value is the most rational, most fair, and most efficient way of taxing it. As mentioned upthread, it would be ludicrous to tax two otherwise identical homes the same if one has an ocean view and a FMV of $750,000 and the other is in a bad neighborhood, has a view of the dump, and a FMV of $150,000.

Whether they've calculated the FMV of your home correctly or not is a completely separate issue. And it's also an issue you can challenge; that's become pretty common in my state due to the housing market crash.

ON TOPIC -

There are already several software service providers that calculate and keep track of sales tax rates across the US; they've been around for a long time now and make the process trivial...download a song from iTunes and they will add the appropriate tax, if applicable.

[wallcraft]

Slate has a new article, I Want It Today, that argues that Amazon's change of heart on sales taxes is associated with their plans for same day delivery in densely populated areas of the US.

A comment at Hacker News suggested that this will end up as a battle between Walmart and Amazon. The B&N vs Amazon ebook example suggests that brick a mortar companies can survive for a while, but I would not bet on B&N being around in five to ten years.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Slate has a new article, I Want It Today, that argues that Amazon's change of heart on sales taxes is associated with their plans for same day delivery in densely populated areas of the US.

Unintended consequences - people need to be careful of what they wish for.

States get their taxes and Amazon gets same day delivery. Watch the mom and pops starting folding at record pace as Amazon and Walmart battle it out. Smaller national chains will also be hit hard by this. I wonder what local businesses think?

Amazon already has its own delivery trucks for AmazonFresh in select Seattle area neighborhoods. If this same day program takes off, it wouldn't surprise me to see Amazon setting up its own delivery service across the nation. UPS's brown and yellow trucks will suddenly be confronted with a fleet of Amazon's black and yellow trucks.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

States get their taxes and Amazon gets same day delivery. Watch the mom and pops starting folding at record pace as Amazon and Walmart battle it out. Smaller national chains will also be hit hard by this. I wonder what local businesses think?

Amazon have offered same-day delivery in the UK for quite some time for people who live in the vicinity of London. I've not heard anyone say that it's had an adverse impact on other businesses.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Amazon have offered same-day delivery in the UK for quite some time for people who live in the vicinity of London. I've not heard anyone say that it's had an adverse impact on other businesses.

How does Amazon's prices compare with local businesses?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

How does Amazon's prices compare with local businesses?

Much cheaper, generally. I buy pretty much everything except food from Amazon. Not for same day delivery, because:

1. The same-day delivery fee is quite a lot.
2. I don't live in the area where it's available.

[artifact]

Originally Posted by Fluribus

It would be ironic if someone did this in Oregon (or one of the other states without a sales tax).

I have wondered from the beginning of the Internet shopping sales tax debate why every company doesn't open home offices in Oregon (or New Jersey) ... but, considering the surrounding states complained enough that sales tax is collected based on residence, I'm sure they'd find a way to plug that hole fairly quickly.

IE, you buy a car in Oregon and show a Washington ID, you pay sales tax. Also if you buy a car in Washington and show an Oregon ID, you -don't- pay sales tax.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I do too. But I have no idea if I'm paying the proper amount, as I'm charged sales tax for a lot of online purchases (e.g., Amazon and most of the big box stores), and I don't keep track specifically unless a major purchase is involved.

I'm never charged sales tax at Amazon or BN for digital downloads.

I'm not charged for eBooks from B&N and there are stores here.

But then, if I was to start getting charged sales tax, I think my business with Kobo might just increase.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Much cheaper, generally. I buy pretty much everything except food from Amazon. Not for same day delivery, because:

1. The same-day delivery fee is quite a lot.
2. I don't live in the area where it's available.

I often get same day delivery for when I order next day delivery; with Amazon Prime the cost is $4.99. Probably more than you want to pay for a DVD, but quite reasonable for a more expensive item.

I also buy the vast majority of my non-food items from Amazon - being able to order precisely what I want online and have it delivered in 2 days is tremendously efficient and convenient.

Local retailers are correct that there is something of a fairness issue in having Amazon not collect sales tax...but they are flatly wrong if they believe that this will meaningfully help them. For one thing, Amazon's prices are almost always significantly cheaper than B&M retailers, even with sales tax. For another, and more importantly, Amazon gives power to consumers by offering a huge number of products from a huge number of manufacturers, complete with reviews. Lastly, since I research my purchases online anyway, it's easy to buy exactly what I want *right then.* Even if I don't get it for a couple of days.