The Tax Man Cometh?
The article below got me wondering when the Feds and all of the States are going to start taxing Internet sales en masse. There is no telling how much Temple has lost in the way of sale tax leakage due to Internet sales. Sales taxes make up 29% of the City revenues. Significant leakage could hinder our ablity to maintain levels of service without offsetting property tax increases. I often ponder the inequities of a government sponsored tax scheme that gives online reatilers a significant advantage over local business that have to collect sales tax. On the other side of the coin, I understand the huge logistical issues associated with collecting sales taxes for 50 states and the Feds. Oh well, this is an issue that we will have to leave up to our infinitely wise elected representatives in Austin and DC to solve.
Amazon.com has now added Rhode Island to its blacklist of affiliates in response to its proposed budget changes to enforce a tax on Internet sales, which includes commissions on their affiliate program by content providers based in Rhode Island. The first state to be blacklisted was North Carolina, for the same reason. If you go to a Rhode Island-based or North Carolina-based website that advertises Amazon.com goods as an affiliate, that website will no longer have the goods available because otherwise Amazon.com would be forced to pay sales tax to the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations or the State of North Carolina. The state’s rationale is, if someone clicks to buy a good from Amazon.com via a site based in Rhode Island, it’s equivalent to buying a good from a brick and mortar chain store located in Rhode Island.
Tags: sales tax
July 11th, 2009 at 1:13 am
Tony, how about telling each department head that we, the taxpayer’s, want a 21% reduction from their department with NO reduction in services and if he or she can’t get it done….replace them with the next in line and see if they can get it done and keep doing this until it is accomplished.
All of us that are having to pay the taxes sure do have to cut back on our budget and so should the city! When you folks get elected to office it seems as if you all have a switch on your back and someone “flips” it and you forget whose money you are spending.
July 12th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Requiring every City department to cut its budget by 21% without a cut in services is not possible. While I am of the mind that there is still fat to cut we are by no means as bloated as the commenter suggests. Our payroll makes up almost 2/3’s of our operating budget. Of that, Public Safety, consumes a large share (the exact number escapes me). I am quite certain that the community would not be in favor of the kind of staffing cuts being advocated in the previous comment. Furthermore, I don’t think anybody on the Council has forgotten whose money we are spending. I would encourage the commenter, or anyone else, that feels they can can make a meaningful difference in how this City is run to consider running for Council. If that is not an option I would encourage people to get involved by attending meetings and workshops so as to have a better understanding of what is really going on.