South Carolina Republicans do the right thing...

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Corth
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South Carolina Republicans do the right thing...

Postby Corth » Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:39 pm

http://www.fitsnews.com/2011/04/27/sc-h ... azon-deal/

Summary: The previous governor negotiated a deal with Amazon which would allow them to build a warehouse within South Carolina, but not have to collect sales tax from South Carolina residents who purchase goods from Amazon. The tax exemption came up for a vote in the Republican controlled state legislature, and was handily voted down, 71-47. Amazon immediately ceased operations in South Carolina, which will now lose 1,300 new jobs at the abandoned facility.

Analysis: It is simply not fair to give one company a competitive advantage over other companies. Large big box retailers and small local ones have to collect sales taxes. Why shouldn't Amazon? If they are allowed such an exemption they are basically selling their goods at a discount equal to the state sales tax amount relative to other retailers doing business in the state. Of course Amazon's decision hurts the state considerably. 1,300 jobs is nothing to sneeze at, even of the lower paying variety. And Amazon's SC customers will still not be paying sales tax. But SC did the right thing, which in and of itself is a good.

From Amazon's perspective, it hardly matters - some other state will give them a sweetheart deal.

Interestingly enough, this might herald a movement away from sales taxes and towards RE taxes. Internet retailing has basically been the death knell for sales taxes, as it becomes too easy to avoid them at the expense of local business. The first state that gets rid of the sales tax altogether will probably find it's local economy flourish. Companies like Amazon actually LOVE the sales tax, because their customers don't pay it, but their competitor's customers do. Getting rid of the local sales tax altogether would level the playing field and force online companies to have to compete on their own merits as opposed to the rules of an artificial construct. At the local level, it would provide a strong immediate boost to long suffering local retailers. This last point can't be overstated.

The flip side of that coin is that consumption taxes are preferable to income taxes. I would support a Federal VAT or sales tax imposed fairly upon all parties in place of the income tax. But at the local level, any state that looks at this intelligently will have to assume that there are better ways to gain revenue. It just hurts local business too much.

Also worth noting that the 'tea party' seems to be having a good influence on the Republicans. The paleo Republicans always gave the sweetheart deals to corporations. It's how they became known as the corporate welfare party. I like the fact that the Tea Party is being intellectually honest here and despite it's anti-tax message, acknowledges that if we are indeed taxing, it should be done fairly and equally. And the SC Republicans, which saw the influence of the Tea Party in the election of their new governor, Nikki Haley, were not about to ignore them.
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth

Goddamned slippery mage.
Kindi
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Re: South Carolina Republicans do the right thing...

Postby Kindi » Thu Apr 28, 2011 5:57 pm

people who purchase out of state goods for use in state are required by law to pay taxes on them. if the selling company does not collect that tax, then the purchasers are to pay it on their tax forms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_taxe ... es#Use_tax

amazon collects sales taxes in some instances, where required by law.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/ ... eId=468512

amazon shuts down affiliates or otherwise attempts to reduce their tax burden where they can, as more and more states try and force the company to collect these taxes for the state.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11052898 ... state.html
Corth
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Re: South Carolina Republicans do the right thing...

Postby Corth » Thu Apr 28, 2011 8:18 pm

When was the last time you filed a sales tax return for goods you purchased online?

Thank you.
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth



Goddamned slippery mage.
Kindi
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Re: South Carolina Republicans do the right thing...

Postby Kindi » Thu Apr 28, 2011 9:42 pm

april 12th 2011, as part of my state tax return, as required by law
Corth
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Re: South Carolina Republicans do the right thing...

Postby Corth » Fri Apr 29, 2011 2:59 am

You truly are special then. :)
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth



Goddamned slippery mage.
Teflor Lyorian
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Re: South Carolina Republicans do the right thing...

Postby Teflor Lyorian » Fri Apr 29, 2011 3:50 am

For that matter, states with sales taxes generally also have an even lesser known use tax.

If you buy something from out-of-state and pay less in taxes than you would in your home state, you generally have to pay the difference!
"You see, the devil haunts a hungry man.
If you don’t wanna join him, you got to beat him."
- Kris Kristofferson (To Beat the Devil)

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