Dip[censored] Durbin: Tax the innernetz!

[AZRedhawk44]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20052999-281.html

Remember how Amazon closed up their IL distribution centers over a sales tax dispute?

Well, IL didn't care for that so they got their pet retard (apologies to those who are mentally handicapped for including him amongst you) Durbin... the guy who thinks that "Atlas Shrugged" is a terrorist novel and that our troops are Nazis... to introduce FEDERAL legislation to mandate a company in one State to collect the sales tax for purchases made in another State or subjurisdiction.

Reading the article shows just how convoluted sales tax laws are.  It's freakin' unreal how anyone could ever keep track of all the regulations on a national market.


Since the COTUS doesn't empower Congress to regulate sales taxes, and since this is a breach of State Supremacy by forcing the laws of one State upon another State... wouldn't this be unconstitutional?

The only possible way I could see to get the same effect would be to implement a prohibition on consumer-level interstate purchases (using the Commerce Clause), then mandate that all consumer-level interstate online purchases be made with a government debit account (in the similar tradition as Federal Reserve Notes rather than true minted money) modeled after PayPal, which the consumer's State monitors interstate purchases and audits/taxes purchases using the State's Treasury Department resources to enforce their sales tax.

Good luck implementing that, though.  I'd just use a money order, printed order manifest and snail-mail to get around it.

The internet already has its own tax:  It's called UPS/FedEx/USPS.

[Angel Eyes]

wouldn't this be unconstitutional?

That's never stopped them before ...

[never_retreat]

I run a large online store, let me tell you this would be impossible. That not even taking into account filing those taxes to 50 states. (its hard enough to do 1 state).
Problems
Every state has a different tax rate
Some states have different rates in different counties and cities.
Not all items are taxable, thats going to change state to state. In NJ there is no tax on food and most clothing, drugs and a few other things.

The only way you ever going to see taxes collected on online sales is if you have a flat federal tax. Not going to happen.

[Monkeyleg]

It's hard enough making a living from the internet without having to work an extra 400 hours a week filing sales tax returns to every city, county and state in the US that has its own sales tax collection requirement.

[Boomhauer]

I run a large online store, let me tell you this would be impossible

They don't care about that...they only care about raking in the tax money...and the internet has been a nice big target of the leftists lately...

The only way you ever going to see taxes collected on online sales is if you have a flat federal tax. Not going to happen.

Don't give them any more ideas, man. I think it's very possible we are going to see a mandatory nationwide sales tax on internet purchases soon.