
Cash-hungry states eye online retail for tax revenue - duck
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/23/business/la-fi-online-tax-20100722
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JangoSteve
_Small online retailers argue that collecting and paying sales taxes to states
would be difficult or impossible to manage, given the thousands of tax
jurisdictions across the country, each with its own rates and rules for what
items are taxable. Others counter that simple computer software can handle the
task easily._

This seems like it'd be a great opportunity for a new company (or how well
does Quicken already do this?). And of course this would be the perfect time
to get started, before these kinds of laws start going into effect in more and
more states. As a consumer I feel like I'd much rather just pay sales tax to
the retailer at the time of purchase rather than having to keep up with it and
file it with my tax return (assuming those are my only two choices). But as a
small online retailer that'd be such a pain having to pay taxes to 50
different states potentially.

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da5e
I've found that whatever savings the prices of online goods offers is mostly
offset by the ridiculously high "postage and handling" charges. And the
handling charges are not consistent even for the same item. It's a scam.

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dangrossman
Unless you get Amazon Prime (which is free for a year if you have a .edu
e-mail address). Free next-day shipping on the millions of items sold at
Amazon. You can get your groceries, tools, electronics, home decor and
furniture there, often cheaper than in stores... two days to your door for
free.

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rmc
The European Union has a similar set up (since each country has a different
VAT rate). it's simple here. You pay VAT in the country the website is in. If
the company has substancial business in another member state, they need to
charge that member state's VAT for those purchases (e.g. Amazon.co.uk charges
the Irish VAT rate (of 21%) rather than the UK VAT rate of 15% if you are
posting to Ireland)

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patio11
Crimety, the LA Times has decided to become Demand Media with worse web
design...

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chadmalik
its not fair to store owners that online stores are tax free. level the playi
g field.

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KevinMS
That's a very legit opinion, no idea why its getting down-voted.

