[Rondec]

I think over time more online retailers are going to be doing this. I'm sure there will be plenty of e bay and etsy sellers of items that don't sell enough to need to report things to various states, but since the Supreme Court ruling about states collecting sales/use tax on internet sales, they see a way of increasing their tax revenues in that way. My wife does run a (small) photography business and she reports new camera gear purchased, pays use tax on it and gets the depreciation expense as well. Obviously no one enjoys paying taxes, but it wasn't unexpected.

As far as shipping goes, I didn't think that was taxable. Certainly when I buy from Amazon it doesn't usually seem to be included in the tax item.

[stevebrot]

I think over time more online retailers are going to be doing this. I'm sure there will be plenty of e bay and etsy sellers of items that don't sell enough to need to report things to various states, but since the Supreme Court ruling about states collecting sales/use tax on internet sales, they see a way of increasing their tax revenues in that way. My wife does run a (small) photography business and she reports new camera gear purchased, pays use tax on it and gets the depreciation expense as well. Obviously no one enjoys paying taxes, but it wasn't unexpected.

As far as shipping goes, I didn't think that was taxable. Certainly when I buy from Amazon it doesn't usually seem to be included in the tax item.

It is hard to see where the future of this all is. My beef is not with the use tax. It has been around for at least 50 years and most Washingtonians have been unaware of its existence unless they had a business or brought a car from out of state and had to pay the tax before licensing it. My complaint is with the separate "tattler" law that compromises protection against unreasonable search.


Steve

[leekil]

I assume the future of it is states catching up with the increased sales on the internet vs. their decreased in-state sales, and the associated loss of tax revenue. I guess that people don't seem to be complying with the tax law voluntarily, they are changing their tactics to collect it.

[Rondec]

It is hard to see where the future of this all is. My beef is not with the use tax. It has been around for at least 50 years and most Washingtonians have been unaware of its existence unless they had a business or brought a car from out of state and had to pay the tax before licensing it. My complaint is with the separate "tattler" law that compromises protection against unreasonable search.


Steve

I don't know that I would blame the companies. The issue is that if your state is willing to take companies to court that they perceive as doing a lot of business over the internet in your state then companies that do much business there will try to be proactive in their dealing with the situation.

Probably the best thing is to contact the state of Washington legislature and get your representative to see that "use tax" is not really important and should be winked at.

[stevebrot]

Probably the best thing is to contact the state of Washington legislature and get your representative to see that "use tax" is not really important and should be winked at.

Good point! Forum policy is that politics are verboten, so I won't discuss that further despite being somewhat sour towards my representatives.

I will also note that I did not call out the store by name, mostly because there would be no use in doing so. I don't believe in Internet "shaming" of vendors for difficult business decisions. They made a choice they hoped would keep them out to court. Their other options were to collect the tax (major pain*) or to ignore. Their competitors chose to ignore the matter and see where things end up after court challenges specific to the tattler aspect of the law.


Steve

* The tax structure is very complicated and even varies within a zip code.

[stevebrot]

I assume the future of it is states catching up with the increased sales on the internet vs. their decreased in-state sales, and the associated loss of tax revenue. I guess that people don't seem to be complying with the tax law voluntarily, they are changing their tactics to collect it.

You are correct. The "use" tax was under-performing relative to estimates. The strange part is that the state has done no campaign to encourage voluntary compliance. I think they were hoping that vendors would quietly collect the tax and not choose the options of tattling or simply ignoring.


Steve