The Coming Internet Sales Tax You Will Have To Pay |
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| By Richard A. Chapo |
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| The web has revolutionized our lives܂ You would not be
reading ´this article online even just fifteen years ago܂ The
technology just wasn’t ´there܂ Now‚ we have virtual people
getting married! Wait‚ I’m not sure if ´that is a good
thing܂ The one area of much controversy on ´the web ´that doesn’t get a lot of ink‚ but is about ´to‚ is ´the sales ´tax issue܂ Simply put‚ ´there is none܂ I live in San Diego܂ If I buy a book from Amazon܂com‚ I don’t pay any sales ´tax on it since the site doesn’t collect it܂ If I buy ´the same book down ´the street at a Barnes & Noble‚ I do pay sales ´tax because ´the store is here in California܂ As you might imagine‚ local retailers ´think ´this is a ´tad unfair܂ Maybe ´they are right܂ Maybe ´they aren’t܂ Up ´to now‚ however‚ no state has been able ´to come up with a way ´to force Amazon and other big retailers into collecting and paying ´the ´taxes܂ There are laws on ´the books from ´the 1970s related ´to catalog sales ´that hold ´that such companies do not have ´to deal with sales ´taxes if ´they don’t have a physical presence in ´the states in question܂ Up ´to now‚ ´this standard has been applied ´to ´the web as well܂ Up ´to now! As you know‚ ´the government is dead broke܂ The Federal Government is sitting on over $13 ´trillion in debt܂ States are in worse shape because ´they can’t carry debt܂ Instead‚ they have ´to cure any deficit immediately܂ One area ´they are looking at now is ´the online sales ´tax܂ Now‚ ´they’ve come up with a pretty interesting way ´to get it܂ Let’s assume you buy something online from Amazon‚ Overstock‚ eBay or whomever܂ If ´the site doesn’t collect sales ´tax [and your state charges it]‚ you are usually legally required ´to calculate ´the ´tax and send it in ´to ´the state with your ´tax return܂ Almost nobody knows ´this much less does it܂ Since states can’t access ´the information of the online stores‚ ´they can’t ´track it and ´there have been no audits performed܂ The new state laws aim ´to change ´this܂ States like Colorado and California are ´taking a new approach܂ They are passing laws requiring ´the online retailers ´to collect and pay sales tax OR ´total up ´the amount due for each ´taxpayer in ´the state and send ´the report ´to both ´the state and ´taxpayer who must ´then remit ´the amount due܂ This new approach is definitely going ´to ´turn into a ´trend that most states will follow܂ If it passes muster in ´the courts‚ you’ll receive a bunch of sales ´tax statements every year in [probably] January and have an even bigger ´tax bill when ´tax season rolls around܂ Oh‚ joy܂ |
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| Article Source: http://interpret.zar.vg | ||||
| About The Author Richard A. Chapo writes about tax debt issues involving the IRS and state tax agencies as well as other tax subjects for BusinessTaxRecovery.com. |
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