Amazon.com sales tax in MA soon?

[Nick]

I do have prime, I love it PS you can share w up to 5 people

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[deadheadskier]

In theory you should be paying use tax if you didn't pay sales tax...

http://www.mass.gov/dor/individuals/taxpayer-help-and-resources/tax-guides/salesuse-tax-guide.html#questions

Got bit on that one many years ago with a furniture purchase in NH. MA DOR audited the NH store and found my address on a receipt.

Surprised the State of NH would even allow MA DOR to audit their stores. That's a major component in why there is no sales tax in NH; to lure shoppers from out of state.

Maine had a line item on their tax returns asking you to report purchases out of state. Screw that. What if I move out of state, are they going to give me a tax credit?

[hammer]

Surprised the State of NH would even allow MA DOR to audit their stores. That's a major component in why there is no sales tax in NH; to lure shoppers from out of state.



Maine had a line item on their tax returns asking you to report purchases out of state. Screw that. What if I move out of state, are they going to give me a tax credit?

It was a small business so maybe they didn't feel they had an option. When I bought another item from them they just left the address off of the receipt.

The problem with the use tax is not in the amount (although that can be a bit) but that, in theory, anything I purchase in NH and take home with me to MA is taxable. I do so much shopping in NH there's no way could I keep track of that.

[o3jeff]

Looks like MA and TX next year.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/31/a...ax-new-jersey/

[thetrailboss]

Good luck on this, Massachusetts. Amazon has taken states to courts on this issue and has won. The only way it will be taxed is if the feds implement a national sales tax and even then folks will try to get around it.

[wa-loaf]

Looks like MA and TX next year.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/31/a...ax-new-jersey/

That doesn't say anything about Mass.

[o3jeff]

That doesn't say anything about Mass.

Opps, meant NJ

[riverc0il]

Sucks. But from an overall perspective, something has to change. Many states built their fiscal economies of scale on pre-internet sales taxation. With the internet, you have fewer people paying local taxes despite a growth in population needing services. No such thing as a free lunch, and all that. People complain about states not being able to balance budgets yet they cling to their tax free internet and then complain when that goes away. Easy for me to toss these stones when I live in a non-glass house in NH. But there it is.

Trailboss might know more about this, but I think internet retailers have won these cases frequently because they are relying on laws that were in place pre-internet that had not envisioned an internet driven economy.

Working in retail with an online store, one issue I know as a manager is doing taxes by state would be very difficult for small businesses. I work for a national company with lawyers and techies staying abreast of taxation issues and making appropriate changes. It would be incredibly difficult for small businesses to handle 50 different tax codes and handle the logistics of both collection and distribution.

Hopefully something fair from the feds can get this thing working for everyone without hurting local small business. Only concern there is if people have gotten used to tax free online shopping, it will be a major economic pain to need to pay sales tax again. Could drag the so called recovery down again in places.

[mlctvt]

It would be incredibly difficult for small businesses to handle 50 different tax codes and handle the logistics of both collection and distribution.

I've read that there are in fact over 30,000 different state and local tax jurisdictions in the USA. As soon internet sales are opened to state taxation all the local county and or town jurisdictions will also be looking for their money too. Imagine a small startup business trying to handle that many different tax jurisdictions!

Edit - Although there may be 30,000 plus jurisdictions only 7600 local jurisdictions plus 45 states collect sales taxes. Still a large number though.

[o3jeff]

Looks like Connecticut is doomed starting in November.