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U.S. sales tax rules for online selling overturned


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As if I needed more reasons to NOT sell online. The “no physical presence” rule has been repealed, and states can now set their own sales tax rules for online sellers. It’s possible we will need to learn 50 different sets of rules, and file 50 different sales tax returns. Madness!

High Court: Online shoppers can be forced to pay sales tax

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This will definitely affect the any online merchants, and cause all sorts of confusion in the beginning, and in the long run the online commerce will see a decline. Shoppers will still shop for items they need, or sizes and styles they cannot find otherwise, but it will be different.  

 

best,

Pres 

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Even aside from tax rules, shipping costs are so high now that online purchases, unless they are covered by an Amazon Prime-type program, are prohibitive.  Who wants to buy something for $30 and pay $15 for shipping?

For that matter, shipping anything is astronomically expensive. In our family we used to send pottery to each other all the time for wedding and holiday gifts, but now the shipping costs have made that entirely impractical.

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It does not break my heart if I have to ship less-Its never made much sense shipping two mugs across the country . My customers seem to still want that more than me.It will not affect my wholesale shipping larger shipments as tax is not in the mix.

 

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It will be interesting to see if they put dollar minimums, or transaction minimums, on those who hav to collect sales tax. Like you only have to deal with it if you sell over $100,000 worth of materials or have 100 or mare transactions. Otherwise it would be impossible for small businesses to handle. I certainly don't have the time to calculate sales tax for everything I ship out of state, or to pay that sales tax. Currently, just from doing art fairs, I have to deal with 8 states. That's not too bad, because I know the sales tax rate for each show. But I sell kilns all over the country, and if I have to figure out the sales tax for each person's town that takes some time. And it takes forever to fill out applications to obtain a sales tax license.

Here's my solution: A national online sales tax rate, say 5%. Everyone charges it on every online or interstate sale, and pays it as part of their regular sales tax payments in the state where their business is located, not in the location of the purchaser. It would be easy for everyone to deal with because it wouldn't require making payments to 50 different states.

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A prediction: (if) this comes down per the article posted- then a host of "express" tax filing services will pop up. For example, shipping.com  consolidates the hassle of shipping. They will add the tax collection, filing, compliance  component as part of their services. (Example only)  We sell pottery, and others sell convenience: for a small fee of course.

T

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"Small fee"---no problem, if it's fair & square.  However the gouging I see going on with the high fees attached to so many services is outrageous. I believe if states force small business to collect taxes from Internet sales, while the states will see money coming down the pike the little guy will just be further shoved aside by the amazonians. It's a bigger isssue than just the states' economies and  burdonsome accounting and paperwork--it really does get into the shaping of business practices that may strangle what is left of entreprenurial small business.  

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Lee:

with 50 States, with 50 different sales tax codes: it is a complex issue. Hopefully, someone realizes that a minimum base line should be established. X amount of sales before reporting becomes mandatory. States incur costs in collecting, at some level it has to costs them more to collect than the actual income received?  Speaking of Amazonian: most of the mom and pop brick and mortar stores around here have closed because they could not compete with free shipping and no sales tax. The damage of no sales tax has been extensive as well. The joys of 330 million people: changes in law help some and hurt others. Too complex of an issue for my brain to wrap around.

There is another issue passed three years ago, and set to go into effect shortly: net neutrality.i do not fully understand the full scope of this change, but from what little I have read: more fees. Free streaming, not so free anymore. Email accounts, blogs, websites, and the like could all be subject to monthly hosting fees. Like the sales tax issue, the scope is so massive no one knows for sure the real impact.

Mark C posted a comment in The Favorite tool thread " blah, blah, blah." After 44 years of building houses, I understand that comment perfectly. If you learn anything after decades of self employment: you learn to adapt to changes. You might not like them, but the alternative is no income.  I take comfort in the fact in 15 more months I can draw SS. Always thought I would hate retiring, but the idea of sitting on my deck doing nothing suddenly has appeal. The sound of birds chirping is certainly more comforting than the noise of rush hour.

t

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Death & taxes! Here's a short history of another craft product that the tax man really  wanted "in" on http://www.ibiblio.org/moonshine/drink/historical.html   Think I prefer making pottery to making booze.  Having pottery in shops in pretty nice & online is pretty slow.

When my kids were small & we would ride in the car, they would open their little bags of M & Ms (they were actually Smarties - the Canadian version) & I'd put my hand out for my portion while saying "taxman!" Needless to say, they have an interesting perspective on taxes :( 

Seems like there are more & more agencies, banks... chasing after our dollars. And there are fewer dollars!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On ‎6‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 11:59 AM, neilestrick said:

It will be interesting to see if they put dollar minimums, or transaction minimums, on those who hav to collect sales tax. Like you only have to deal with it if you sell over $100,000 worth of materials or have 100 or mare transactions. Otherwise it would be impossible for small businesses to handle. I certainly don't have the time to calculate sales tax for everything I ship out of state, or to pay that sales tax. Currently, just from doing art fairs, I have to deal with 8 states. That's not too bad, because I know the sales tax rate for each show. But I sell kilns all over the country, and if I have to figure out the sales tax for each person's town that takes some time. And it takes forever to fill out applications to obtain a sales tax license.

Here's my solution: A national online sales tax rate, say 5%. Everyone charges it on every online or interstate sale, and pays it as part of their regular sales tax payments in the state where their business is located, not in the location of the purchaser. It would be easy for everyone to deal with because it wouldn't require making payments to 50 different states.

Brilliant.  Would you consider running for President next election??  Love the flat tax idea!

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ya know I'm sure there will be some sort of national clearing house of tax rates and eCommerce sites will have to tie it together to continue to get business. Will be disruptive at first maybe but my guess it will smooth out with either a tie to your processor or some good sites to run your sales data through for a report and an API lookup for the shopping cart. Washington with its destination based tax is pretty similar in that you literally have to separate every county on your sales tax report.  Square made it easy for us even though we had a number of counties to report on.

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18 hours ago, Stephen said:

ya know I'm sure there will be some sort of national clearing house of tax rates and eCommerce sites will have to tie it together to continue to get business. Will be disruptive at first maybe but my guess it will smooth out with either a tie to your processor or some good sites to run your sales data through for a report and an API lookup for the shopping cart. Washington with its destination based tax is pretty similar in that you literally have to separate every county on your sales tax report.  Square made it easy for us even though we had a number of counties to report on.

At a gathering last night, we were having this conversation.  One person pointed out that Square will do this for us.  Hopefully so.

r.

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