This may be the last holiday season to enjoy tax-free Internet shopping, thanks to new legislation in the U.S. Congress.
Two bills introduced Wednesday propose sweeping changes to how Americans are taxed for online and mail order purchases. Businesses initially would be required to collect sales taxes on purchases shipped to roughly half of the country, and that percentage is expected to rapidly increase.
"Main Street retailers collect sales taxes, while many online and catalog retailers are exempt from collecting the same taxes," said a statement published by Sen. Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican. "This is costing states and localities billions in lost revenue." (A related bill has been introduced by Sen. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, who is a former state tax commissioner.)
At the moment, if you order something from a company that's located entirely out of state, you're typically not charged sales tax. Seattle-based Amazon.com, for instance, does not collect sales taxes when shipping to California.
Full Story @ CNET News.com
Once again, the asshats in Washington D.C. have taken it upon themselves to further push us to a second civil war. Except this time it won't be the Boston Tea Part it'll be the Internet Everything Party. It's time to send a message to those mindless drones who suckle on the breast of evil that we will not stand for this. Write your congressman or woman today! Put an end to this tyranny or they will continue to ignore the constitution and oppress us into oblivion. -Ed
to find and/or email your reps, www.house.gov and www.senate.gov
Just emailed all three of mine.
Posted by: muddy at December 22, 2005 01:03 AMThe better thing to do would be to CALL. I just went to one of our reps. web site and she left a message on there saying that because of the MANY e-mail she recieves that e-mail is *not* the best way to contact her. It may very well be better to make that phone call instead.:-)
Posted by: mrs. muddy at December 22, 2005 03:53 AMNever email or call. Send registered mail. A phone call takes very little time and effort. Same with an e-mail. A registered letter takes much time, effort and money. It shows you really care.
Posted by: skywalker at December 23, 2005 05:00 PMActually, that's a very good point. Thanks for the tip.
Posted by: mrs. muddy at December 23, 2005 07:23 PM