There is nothing unconstitutional about paying sales tax in a state where you make a purchase but do not live. It happens tens of- or more likely hundreds of millions of- times a year. If you physically make a purchase in the state of California, you will pay California income tax even if you are a Minnesota resident like me. When I am in Wisconsin or Illinois to see family and friends, I pay sales tax to those states on every purchase. If I attempted to argue that the retailers were violating the Constitution by charging me sales tax as a non-resident, much hilarity would ensue. IMHO if I buy from Rivendell via their web site or by phone or mail order, I am making a purchase in California even though I am sitting on my sofa in St. Paul.
It is simply how you define where the purchase is taking place: is it where the buyer is located or where the seller is located? There are four components to such transactions: the buyer, the seller, the good or service being sold and the point of exchange of money. When I buy something from Rivendell, three of those components are in Walnut Creek- the only component not there is me. There is no particular logical reason to base the application of sales tax exclusively on the location of the buyer- especially since sales tax is remitted by the seller, not the buyer. Through lobbying and the like, mail order retailers got themselves a tax loophole years ago and sooner or later that will go away. The only practical solution is for sellers to remit sales tax on all sales to their own states, because the accounting burden of remitting tax to potentially 50 states and perhaps territories would be enormous. There is a slightly deeper question about sales tax: who is being taxed? The seller or the buyer? While the tax is passed on to the customer in an itemized fashion, the tax is actually paid to the state by the retailer. IMHO there is no logical reason for Rivendell to have to cut a check to Minnesota for purchases I make; their sales tax should be paid to California. Years back when I was in France for a tour and then the next year for PBP, I noticed that their sales tax was invisibly included in the self price of items, which made it easier to predict the tab at the checkout. Tim On May 20, 2013, at 5:18 PM, Ron Mc <[email protected]> wrote: > I can see this thread getting political very fast, but paying sales tax in > the state where you purchase but don't live (counts as interstate commerce) > is unconstitutional. Keeping up with sales tax for other states is an unfair > burden on a vendor, making fair tax an oxymoron. I believe the size of > internet commerce, though, will take us eventually to a federal VAT/sales > tax, which is probably the most fair tax since it is based on consumption. > That doesn't mean expect them to give up other existing taxes in return - it > just doesn't work that way. > > On Monday, May 20, 2013 5:04:01 PM UTC-5, Tim McNamara wrote: >> >> Seems to me the simple thing is that sales tax is paid to the state where >> the sale is rung up- if I buy from Riv, I pay CA sales tax. If I buy from >> Jim, I pay MN sales tax, etc. >> >> Tim >> >> On May 20, 2013, at 2:57 PM, Hiawatha Cyclery <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> > As a small operation that does some mail order, I don't care to file sales >> > tax returns on every out of state sale. Compliance would be much less >> > complicated if it was just a federal alternative sales tax. Let the IRS >> > sort out which states get the $$ > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
