I'm afraid the answer is some of us do, and we will do a calculus for any major purchase ($50-100 and up) to determine whether it wouldn't be better to pay shipping than line the coffers of increasingly greedy states. And with the shortfall in revenue in most states it is likely to get worse. As economists call it, it is a regressive tax, falling disproportionately on lower income buyers, since it has always been obvious that people in high-income brackets do not necessarily spend in proportion to their wealth. What is really, truly, nasty is the jurisdictions that tax essentials such as groceries and basic clothing (many of them in the southeast).
It is quite possible that the matter may eventually become moot if something like a VAT or GST (our Canadian friends can tell us about that) ever is imposed, as there will be no place to hide, and, at least to some extent, the playing field will again be leveled. I do sympathize, at least on a theoretical level, with commercial dealers at conventions who are required to charge the sales tax of the local jurisdiction at shows and conventions, even if not where they themselves normally do business. One memory that still rankles was the former Stamford O scale show, which was probably the largest in New England at one time; one Saturday a bureaucrat from the Connecticut revenue office showed up and each vendor--really commercial or only someone cleaning out his closet--was supposed to pay for a sales license and collect their tax. I don't know that that particular imposition effectively killed the show, but it never quite seemed to recover afterward. At the time I wondered if it really made sense to advertise train shows outside the hobby channels, as that was bound to attract official notice, yet it is hard to believe there would be that much additional trade from the general public to justify the risk. Some jurisdictions allow a limited sort of yard sale/flea market safety-valve for non-commercial vendors to sell their own goods on an occasional basis without falling under the system. Some don't seem to permit any exemptions. No good solutions I can think of; having expressed myself at length, I'll go back to discussing S scale. Jace Kahn General Manager Ceres & Canisteo RR Co./Champlain County Traction Co. > To: [email protected] > From: [email protected] > Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2010 11:43:30 -0800 > Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Local Hobby Shops > > Bill > > It is always a problem with the people willing to pay shipping but not tax. > Do they really hate the state that much or??? Shipping items are certainly > more than the sales tax at times or close enough that it shouldn't matter. > This is another reason internet sales sites are panicked at the thought of > having to pay taxes to states where they do business if they don't have a > location in that state. > > Howard > > > On Nov 11, 2010, at 6:24 PM, Scale S Only wrote: > > > Big Boys Toys/Palmdale Hobbies was once like that too, but it didn't really > > pay compared to the rest of the trains or other hobbies in the store. > > According to John Verser of PRS, I was the largest S dealer west of > > Chicago, > > and from personal observation of Caboose Hobbies in Denver and Whislestop > > in > > Pasedena, I believe he was correct. Made no difference. I had more > > international customers come in than the ones from the bay area or Los > > Angeles. A big part of the deal was that I had to charge sales taxes to CA > > residents... > > > > Having fun? > > Bill Winans > > > > > After over 10 years of promoting S > > > as a dealer in northern California <snip> > > > the buyers in California fail to think of > > > the bountiful S in their own back yard <snip> > > > Howard Sheffield > > > > I will have to admit that I was blown away at the first sight of Howard's > > tables at a local California convention. I never knew so much S was > > actually > > in stock out here on the west coast. > > ...Ed L. > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
