State Deficit is caused by internet

[Matt J]

http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/36334494.html

Collecting What?s Owed On Internet Taxes Save Email Print
Posted: 10:06 PM Dec 17, 2008
Last Updated: 10:07 PM Dec 17, 2008
Reporter: Mike Vasilinda
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Internet Sales Taxes
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Florida is losing two to four billion dollars a year in taxes it is
already owed because GOP state lawmakers have failed to pave the way for the collection of taxes on remote or internet purchases. Most everything you buy online is subject to the state sales and use tax, but only about half of what?s due is ever collected.
The internet is the fastest growing sales sector in the state and nation. There is something for everyone.
?I buy clothes, shoes. I just bought my grandmother?s gift.?
?So I?ll buy sheets online and that sort of thing.?
Did you know that if you bought from somebody that didn?t charge you
tax, you still owe it?
?No, I did not know that. I still owe tax??
And that?s the problem. Few people know they are supposed to submit a form to the state and pay the tax they owe on internet purchases.
The tax on this 60-dollar watch should be $3.60. Dominic Calabro of Florida Taxwatch says not collecting that at the sales point is costing the state a bundle.
?We?re losing two to four billion dollars a year. And what this means
is, not only is it the rule of law but we?re actually hurting Florida jobs. We?re hurting millions.?
Tax experts say if Florida were already collecting everything it?s owed
from internet purchases, there would be no budget deficit and no budget cutting.
Part of the problem is states tax items differently. Florida lawmakers
have turned downed efforts to streamline our tax with other states. Rick McAllister of the Florida Retail Federation is working hard to get that done this year.
?That?s money that?s owed to the state of Florida that?s simply not
being collected, not being paid. And we need that money.
Last year, just 3,400 forms were filed to voluntarily pay the tax.
Congress will still have to authorize a state to collect taxes from sellers in other states, but given the budget problems nationwide, opposition is starting to thaw.

 

[TooFarTampa]

This is probably true. I do a lot of online shopping just out of necessity -- 2-year-olds aren't very portable. My favorite clothing lines for her aren't available locally, so I find them on ebay and in far-flung boutiques. I've purchased a flat-screen online (after reading a ton of online reviews). Most of my Christmas shopping has been done online. I shop locally when I can but it's just not easy for me to do right now.

None of these decisions had anything to do with the lack of state taxes, but I sure save a bunch. If this is what it takes to get the state budget in line, so be it. It seems like the least painful solution. With the right laws it shouldn't be too hard to get retailers like Amazon (where I bought the flat screen) to comply.

 

[30ashopper]

Congress renewed the national moratorium on state internet taxes last year which won't expire until 2014. Looks like it was a unanimous bipartisan vote, so it doesn't look like it'll be overturned in the near future.

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3708656

(updated below - not the case)

 

[TooFarTampa]

Congress renewed the national moratorium on state internet taxes last year which won't expire until 2014. Looks like it was a unanimous bipartisan vote, so it doesn't look like it'll be overturned in the near future.

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3708656

Thanks. You would think this would be something they would reexamine. Yes, it would amount to raising taxes but would be a painless and reasonable way to help out the states.

 

[traderx]

Thanks. You would think this would be something they would reexamine. Yes, it would amount to raising taxes but would be a painless and reasonable way to help out the states.

Government can never balance the budget thru additional taxes. It has to come from spending cuts. When times are tough, we tighten up and spend less. Why can't the government do the same?

 

[TooFarTampa]

Government can never balance the budget thru additional taxes. It has to come from spending cuts. When times are tough, we tighten up and spend less. Why can't the government do the same?

Hello and to the same old conversation. I am starting to see where you are coming from, but this would seem more like the closing of a loophole than an actual tax increase, and thus would increase revenue. I'm happy to continue saving $$$ online because the actual shopping process is much easier for me, but at the same time, does this not hurt small local businesses? It seems like it would be a good idea for everyone to level the playing field. When small businesses are forced to close it can be so very bad for the local economy and even the commercial real estate market, as we are learning here in Tampa.

 

[wrobert]

Government can never balance the budget thru additional taxes. It has to come from spending cuts. When times are tough, we tighten up and spend less. Why can't the government do the same?

Again misinformation abounds on issues.

How can you blame the Florida legislature or anyone for that matter if an individual breaks the law, as I imagine all of us do by not voluntarily remitting our sales taxes on internet purchases?

And this problem was set to be remedied four years ago but as a condition of it passing, the GOP controlled house would only agree if the sales tax was reduced by the amount needed to make the new tax revenue neutral. Support did not come from the Senate at that time and I the compromise never could get out of committee.

 

[BeachSiO2]

There are similar issues with other types of taxes on the internet being uncollected (or miscollected by vendors) besides sales tax, of which I bet ShallowsNole could write a book!

 

[30ashopper]

Congress renewed the national moratorium on state internet taxes last year which won't expire until 2014. Looks like it was a unanimous bipartisan vote, so it doesn't look like it'll be overturned in the near future.

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3708656

I may have been wrong about this as I'm having a hard time reconciling this with florida law. This moratorium may have been on internet access, not purchases, although I haven't found anything official listing the details.

Florida's info -
http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/consumer/

Related, There was a SC ruling back in the 90's that prevents one state from forcing another state to collect the former's taxes (but they can do it voluntarily.)

 

[30ashopper]

More -

The state now collects sales tax from Floridians who make retail purchases on the Internet, but only when the retailers have actual bricks-and-mortar stores in Florida.
Twenty-two states have passed laws allowing voluntary sales tax collection on most Internet purchases.

Florida's Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, which gathers every 20 years to rearrange Florida's tax system, wants the Legislature to pass a measure that would add Florida to the other 22 states.

But even with those changes, states cannot force retailers in other states to collect and deliver sales tax until federal law is changed. That's unlikely any time soon.
Taxing online transactions has never gotten far in Florida. The last major push fizzled in 2004 under then-House Speaker Johnnie Byrd.

Even taxation commission chairman Allan Bense acknowledges he ignored such proposals when he was House speaker because state government had more money in those years.

He supports the idea now because "times are tougher."

Despite the budget crunch, Gov. Charlie Crist said earlier this week he would oppose such legislation because it's a tax that would take money out of consumers' pockets.

And bills that already have been filed on the issue are "dead," said bill sponsor, Sen. Steve Geller, D-Cooper City.

The remaining option for imposing the sales tax collection measure this year would be for the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission to pitch the measure as a constitutional amendment to go straight to voters to consider this November. Although the group has such a proposal in writing, both Bense and the group pushing the idea, the Florida Retail Federation, acknowledge it's unlikely to happen.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article418999.ece

So I guess it is legal, and the moratorium doesn't apply to sales taxes. Sounds though like this deal would be DOA in the Florida Congress.

I had no idea I was violating the tax code by not remitting. OOPS!