Texans to start paying Sales Tax on Amazon.com in July

Well this bites....

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/17843257/amazoncom-resolves-sales-...

Anyone in Texas will now have to pay taxes through Amazon starting in July....

Hard to feel bad for a state with such a low overall tax burden, but I understand the FW effect of being taxed.

So much red, looks to be all from Texans. Sorry the facts disappoint you.

visin said:   Mike you have no idea how much we pay for protery taxes in TX. Uncle sam never leaves any money on the table. So please dont say there is a low overall tax buden on texans...

I don't think its any big secret. Average Texas property taxes are still lower than in my state.

Nevada is trying to do the same thing by 2014

Blows.

I think the key complaint Texans have about property taxes is how high a percent of the home values they are. In my city, it is 2.34% of the value which is relatively high. That puts tax on a million dollar home at $23,400/year. However, the saving grace is that the average home price in most areas is under $200,000.

visin said:   Mike you have no idea how much we pay for protery taxes in TX. Uncle sam never leaves any money on the table...The federal government isn't get much of your prop tax, that's going to your town, county, and Austin.

jaimelobo said:   visin said:   Mike you have no idea how much we pay for protery taxes in TX. Uncle sam never leaves any money on the table...The federal government isn't get much of your prop tax, that's going to your town, county, and Austin.
If you pay enough real estate tax, the federal government actually subsidizes your property tax.

visin said:   Mike you have no idea how much we pay for protery taxes in TX. Uncle sam never leaves any money on the table. So please dont say there is a low overall tax buden on texans...

I am a Texan also but also qualify as a Certified Fraud Examiner. The above is the ignorant kind of whining I live with every day. Texas has received more money in federal spending than is collected every year since 2002. Tax Foundation hasn't updated their data http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/ftsbs-timeseries-20071016-.pd... But beginning in 2008 Texas gained substantial income from the transfer of military personnel form other areas under BRAC. Fort Bliss gained 20,000 members and their dependents http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20090206_hotmarket.htm, Fort Hood is now the second largest base after the Pentagon, Walter Reed has been closed and consolidated into Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio. We have had 3,000 jobs added along the Border with Mexico. Job growth has been substantially driven by spending through stimulus funds or personnel transfers. Also the numbers exclude oil/gas revenues from the Outer Continental Shelf which Texas receives a 20% share of revenues from offshore Texas. This is second only to Louisiana. These are off budget.

As to Sales/Use taxes read this Supreme Court Case on Use Taxation written in 1981. http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/451/725/ The 1992 case is an afterthought. Add tot that the Supreme Court decision in http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/262/553/ which defines where state authority over interstate commerce begins and you find that none of the states using a sales/use tax have a legal regime on goods arriving in interstate commerce. It is too much work to comply. Texas has already been on the carpet for charging local sales taxes in areas they should not. They have crept back to doing it again for administrative ease. Texas does it by entire zip codes(not legal) not Zip+4. So Texas is technically engaged in an ongoing criminal enterprise.

When the state first tried to do this Amazon shut down the distribution center in DFW which cost about 2000 jobs . Shipments from there were limited to those going to states surrounding Texas but none in state. The Supreme Court and Charles Evans Hughes shot that argument for taxation based on presence in this case out of the saddle in 1914. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_E._%26_W._T._Ry._Co._v._Uni... Texas lost that one. So Amazon has pretty much held all the cards in the negotiations.

Rumors of California residents having to pay tax on Amazon.com starting in 2013. I certainly hope not.

what happens when some one who lives in an other state buys something and then it gets shipped to Texas?
is tax collected?

wp746911 said:   Well I for one am glad to see Amazon pay up. Yes it means more money out of my pocket (I'm a Amazon prime member...), but I'm sick of Amazon threatening to leave a state if the state doesnt bend over backwards and take it. I would prefer ALL online dealers have a level playing field with ALL local stores.

Why not just buy it from a local retailer?

cr3s said:   wp746911 said:   Well I for one am glad to see Amazon pay up. Yes it means more money out of my pocket (I'm a Amazon prime member...), but I'm sick of Amazon threatening to leave a state if the state doesnt bend over backwards and take it. I would prefer ALL online dealers have a level playing field with ALL local stores.

Why not just buy it from a local retailer?

I can answer that.

The last thing I bought at Amazon was a "collector's edition" movie set. The price I paid at Amazon, $6, the price here locally, $39.95, and that was hardly an isolated sort of instance.

The last time I had to return something locally, it took 45min of waiting, followed by dealing with two employees and a store manager, who's attitude towards me ranged somewhere between I was trying to rob the place, or I had just run-over their dog. My last return to Amazon took 2min to send off an email. Another 2min to print the prepaid return label. And UPS came to my house to get it the next day. And Amazon, they actually apologised for my inconvenience, a form response I'm sure, but still.

Local retailers don't need a tax collector to compete, they need a miracle.

Wait, isn't this good news? One less retailer to have to worry about when calculating use tax? Bring on the red!

mike96sc2 said:   wp746911 said:   Well I for one am glad to see Amazon pay up. Yes it means more money out of my pocket (I'm a Amazon prime member...), but I'm sick of Amazon threatening to leave a state if the state doesnt bend over backwards and take it. I would prefer ALL online dealers have a level playing field with ALL local stores.

Does this not just open up another, potentially shady, sub-market where people will purchase elsewhere to avoid tax?

I know people who order cigarettes online from reservations where they aren't charged tax. This isn't legal for the end buyer, but the burden of that issue it put on the purchaser rather than the seller.

It is no different than when people who live near a state with no sales tax, like New Hampshire, drive across state lines to buy. The burden is on the individual tax payer to declare all those untaxed purchases.

What I don't understand is why the Indians don't open up shopping malls, instead of little dinky smoke huts and run down gas stations. Indians around here have built multy-million dollar casinos, so they have the capital to build large scale structures.

People drive 100 miles out of their way from Toronto to save money on purchases at our outlet malls and just regular shopping malls (there is a 30% VAT and 13% sales tax in Canada, while we only have 8.75% sales tax, and no state tax on clothes, just county tax 4.75%)

Imagine the traffic that a rez would generate if they opened up large shopping mall with big name stores, and NO SALES TAX! They are just not capitalizing on the more lucrative need. Instead of building casinos for, mostly elderly, they could attract a wide variety of customers.

There is a point when taxation becomes theft, and they crossed that line a long time ago. Here is a partial list of taxes we pay :

1. Accounts Receivable Tax

2. Accounting and Tax Preparation fees (cost to taxpayers $300 billion)

3. Accumulated Earnings Tax

4. Accumulation Distribution of Trusts

5. Activity Fee (Dumping Permit Fee)

6. Air Tax (PA coin-operated vacuums)

7. Aircraft Jet Fuel Tax

8. Aircraft Excise Tax

9. Alcohol Fuels Tax

10. Alcoholic Beverage Tax

11. Alternative Minimum Tax – Amt

12. Ambulance Services (Air Ambulance Services, SD)

13. Ammunition Tax

14. Amusement Tax (MA, VA, MD)

15. Annual Custodial Fees (Ira Accounts)

16. Ballast Water Management Fee (Marine Invasive Species)

17. Biodiesel Fuel Tax

18. Blueberry Tax (Maine)

19. Bribe Taxes (Pay If You Dare)

20. Brothel licensing fees (NV – $35,000.00 per year per brothel)

21. Building Permit Tax

22. Capital Gains Tax

23. California Interstate User Diesel Fuel Tax

24. California Redemption Value (Can and Bottle Tax)

25. CDL License Tax

26. Charter Boat Captain License

27. Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Fee

28. Cigarette Tax

29. Cigarette Tax Stamp (Acts) (Distributors)

30. Compressed Natural Gas Tax

31. Commercial Activity Tax (OH – for Service Providers)

32. Corporate Income Tax

33. Court Fines (Indirect Taxes)

34. Disposable Diapers Tax (Wisconsin)

35. Disposal Fee (Any Landfill Dumping)

36. Dog License Tax

37. Electronic Waste Recycling Fee (E-Waste)

38. Emergency Telephone User Surcharge

39. Environmental Fee (CA – HazMat Fees)

40. Estate Tax (Death Tax, to be reinstated)

41. Excise Taxes

42. Facility Fee (CA – HazMat Fees)

43. FDIC tax (insurance premium on bank deposits)

44. Federal Income Tax

45. Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)

46. Fiduciary Income Tax (Estates and Trusts)

47. Fishing License Tax

48. Flush Tax (MD Tax For Producing Wastewater)

49. Food License Tax

50. Fountain Soda Drink Tax (Chicago – 9%)

51. Franchise Tax

52. Fresh Fruit (CA, if Purchased From A Vending Machine)

53. Fuel Permit Tax

54. Fur Clothing Tax (MN)

55. Garbage Tax

56. Gasoline Tax (44.75 Cents Per Gallon)

57. Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax

58. Generator Fee (Recycled Waste Fee)

59. Gift Tax

60. Gross Receipts Tax

61. Hamburger Tax (Ask Huckabee)

62. Hazardous Substances Fees: Generator, Facility, Disposal

63. Household Employment Taxes

64. Hunting License Tax

65. Illegal Drug Possession (No. Carolina)

66. Inheritance Tax

67. Insect Control Hazardous Materials License

68. Insurance Premium Tax

69. Intangible Tax (Leases Of Govt. Owned Real Property)

70. Integrated Waste Management Fee

71. Interstate User Diesel Fuel Tax

72. Inventory Tax

73. IRA Rollover Tax (a transfer of IRA money)

74. IRA Early Withdrawl Tax

75. IRS Interest Charges

76. IRS Penalties (Tax On Top Of Tax)

77. Jock Tax (income earned by athletes in some states)

78. Kerosene, Distillate, & Stove Oil Taxes

79. Kiddie Tax (Child’s Earned Interest Form 8615)

80. Lead Poisoning Prevention Fee (Occupational)

81. Lease Severance Tax

82. Liquid Natural Gas Tax

83. Liquid Petroleum Gas Tax

84. Liquor Tax

85. Litigation Tax (TN Imposes Varies With the Offense)

86. LLC/PLLC Registration Tax

87. Local Income Tax

88. Lodging Taxes

89. Lump-Sum Distributions

90. Luxury Taxes

91. Make-Up Tax (Ohio, applying in a salon is taxable)

92. Marriage License Tax

93. Meal Tax

94. Medicare Tax

95. Mello-Roos Taxes (Special Taxes and Assessments)

96. Minnow Dealers License (Retail – For One Shop)

97. Minnow Dealers License (Distributor – For One+ Shops)

98. Mobile Home Ad Valorem Taxes

99. Motor Fuel Tax (For Suppliers)

100. Music and Dramatic Performing Rights Tax

101. Nudity Tax (Utah)

102. Occupation Tax (Various Professional Fees)

103. Oil and Gas Assessment Tax

104. Oil Spill Response, Prevention, And Administration Fee

105. Pass-Through Withholding

106. Pay-Phone Calls Tax (Indiana)

107. Personal Property Tax

108. Personal Holding Company (undistributed earnings)

109. Pest Control License

110. Petroleum Business Tax

111. Playing Card Tax (Al)

112. Pole Tax (TX – A $5 Cover Charge On Strip Clubs)

113. Profit from Illegal Drug Dealing

114. Property Tax

115. Prostitution Tax (NV – Prostitute Work Permits)

116. Rain Water Tax (Runoff after a Storm)

117. Real Estate Tax

118. Recreational Vehicle Tax

119. Road Usage Tax

120. Room Tax (Hotel Rooms)

121. Sales Tax (State)

122. Sales Tax (City)

123. Sales And Use Tax (Sellers Permit)

124. School Tax

125. Service Charge Tax

126. Self Employment Tax

127. Sex Sales Tax (UT, when nude people perform services)

128. Sewer & Water Tax

129. Social Security Tax

130. Sparkler and Novelties Tax (WV Sellers of Sparklers, etc.)

131. Special Assessment Tax (Not Ad Valorem)

132. State Documentary Stamp Tax on Notes (FL RE Tax)

133. State Franchise Tax

134. State Income Tax

135. State Park Fees

fshaia said:   There is a point when taxation becomes theft, and they crossed that line a long time ago. Here is a partial list of taxes we pay :
...............

133. State Franchise Tax

134. State Income Tax

135. State Park Fees

Not to mention the unseen tax on our most finite resource- our time. The gov loves wasting it. Gives them something to do while wasting our money.

fshaia said:   There is a point when taxation becomes theft, and they crossed that line a long time ago. Here is a partial list of taxes we pay :

1. Accounts Receivable Tax

.... and then hundreds of lines of wasted Internet bandwidthA simple link to the list (on numerous websites) might have been nice.

nsdp said:   visin said:   Mike you have no idea how much we pay for protery taxes in TX. Uncle sam never leaves any money on the table. So please dont say there is a low overall tax buden on texans...
When the state first tried to do this Amazon shut down the distribution center in DFW which cost about 2000 jobs . Shipments from there were limited to those going to states surrounding Texas but none in state.

Actually, that is not true. I received many items shipped from the Las Colinas warehouse and I am in DFW.

todd2006 said:   Rumors of California residents having to pay tax on Amazon.com starting in 2013. I certainly hope not.

Saw a map of states Amazon has cut deals with and Ca is on it. "Governor Jerry Brown compromised with the leader in opposition, Amazon, and postponed collection of the sales tax until September 12, 2012" http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/amazon-sales-tax-officially-pos...

Amaz0n agrees to collect sales tax in NJ starting next year, from yesterday's WSJ article.

Here's a list of states that Amazon collects sales tax and states it will do so soon.
Amaz0n has been collecting sales taxes in more states. I'm quite surprised Illinois hasn't made this list yet, but with the baboons in Springfield, I'm not that surprised.
(Illinois 2 years ago made the taxpayers fill a line out on its tax return saying how much one spent online without paying sales tax, but it failed as maybe 10% of taxpayers actually said they bought anything online, let alone put in actual amount they purchased)

CURRENT
Kansas
Kentucky
North Dakota
New York
Texas
Washington

PLANNED
California (Sept. 2012)
Indiana (Jan. 2014)
Nevada (Jan. 2014)
New Jersey (July 2013)
South Carolina (Jan. 2016)
Tennessee (Jan 2014)
Virginia (Sept 2013)

Source: Amaz0n.com