Online Sales Tax for PA and Philly Residents Coming after Election

[Bixbyte]

Chaka Fattah and his State Cronies are keeping this out of the News.
State of PA and City of Phila intend to make retailers collect 6% and 8% Sales Tax on all purchases online.
keep an eye and watch till the election is over.
You will vote for the Same old crap and when the election is over
your government officials will then announce the new sales tax on internet sales.
Fattah and his buddies in Harrisburg are complaining that they are losing $250 million a year in lost tax revenue.

[Jayfar]

This is a good thing, right? This will make it so much simpler to pay the sales/use taxes we have always been legally required to pay.

Use Tax

EDIT:

BTW, what the fsck does this have to do with poor, oppressed NE Philly, as opposed to Philly in general? Shouldn't this have been posted in a more general forum?

[BarryG]

Not a new tax, just new enforcement. You're a deadbeat if you haven't been declaring your online purchases every year at tax time.

[raider.adam]

Not a new tax, just new enforcement. You're a deadbeat if you haven't been declaring your online purchases every year at tax time.

I'm going to guess 99% of americans are deadbeats.

I actually don't have a problem with this. I don't think online retailers should get any special tax collection exemption that brick and mortars have to do.

[Bixbyte]

This is a good thing, right? This will make it so much simpler to pay the sales/use taxes we have always been legally required to pay.

Use Tax

EDIT:

BTW, what the fsck does this have to do with poor, oppressed NE Philly, as opposed to Philly in general? Shouldn't this have been posted in a more general forum?

_______________________________

AND YOU BELIEVE THIS Tom Corbett TAX PROPAGANDA?
The City and state abused our tax money and spent themselves into bankruptcy.
Now, they want you to feel guilty if you buy an item out of state and save a dollar on your purchase.
Cut me a break unless you are a city or state worker with a big fat pension and beautiful medical care card.
These politicians are bankrupt due to spending on a trash waste processing project over in Harrisburg.
No one asked me or my fellow voter if it was OK for Harrisburg to design a project that ran our state into the ground.
No one in City of Philadelphia City Council allows voters to actually have a say in the workings of the Government.
If this was run by private industry these incompetent workers would be fired.
NOT rewarded with DROP, pensions and Medical care like the rich and famous.
Our system is screwed up and if I had my way I would change it quickly.
Instead we will tax everyone to move out of Rhawnhurst and the rest of Philadelphia.

[seand]

Amazon has been getting rich exempting itself from collecting the same taxes that brick and mortars can't ignore. If you like having only Chinese take-outs, daycares and nail salons in your neighborhood, opposing closing this loop hole sounds like a good thing. But if you occasionally like to physically see something before you buy it, like food or clothes or shoes, leveling the playing ground between online and brick and mortar is probably a good idea.

[Politburo]

Any source for this rumor?

[seand]

Yeah I was wondering that too. Since Fattah's tightest ally in Harrisburg (State Sen. Vince Hughs) isn't exactly zipping bills through the Rep. controlled State Senate these days. And it sort of sounds like it might be a Corbett plan actually.

[robot]

Amazon has been getting rich exempting itself from collecting the same taxes that brick and mortars can't ignore. If you like having only Chinese take-outs, daycares and nail salons in your neighborhood, opposing closing this loop hole sounds like a good thing. But if you occasionally like to physically see something before you buy it, like food or clothes or shoes, leveling the playing ground between online and brick and mortar is probably a good idea.

From what I understand Amazon is about to roll out its same day delivery service in many cities, which would have required them to start collecting state and local taxes anyway.

[seand]

From what I understand Amazon is about to roll out its same day delivery service in many cities, which would have required them to start collecting state and local taxes anyway.

Or put another way, California and a number of revenue hungry states had taken aim at them and they came up with a plan to expand even under the innevitably eventually changing circumstances. Which is smart. Yeah we are going to be picking up our stuff from digital lockers in 7-11's even faster than UPS shortly from what I heard on the radio.

[borntochill]

Chaka Fattah and his State Cronies are keeping this out of the News.

So true! I even heard that after each of the below news stories appeared that reporters were found dead, dumped in ditches alongside the PA turnpike with their genitals cut off and stuck in their mouths.

PA sets fall target for $300M/yr Amazon tax effort

Philly Deals: States move to collect sales taxes on the Internet

Pennsylvania Pursues Internet Sales Taxes « CBS Philly

Start of online sales tax collection by Pennsylvania delayed | TribLIVE

The online tax collection begins by or before September 1. What do you mean when you say it's coming after the election?

Instead we will tax everyone to move out of Rhawnhurst and the rest of Philadelphia.

Since the online tax is statewide, where are you planning to move to avoid it? Where is your new tax haven?

[raider.adam]

Any source for this rumor?

This is sort of old news. It was supposed to happen in February, but they extended it to September. It's already been done.

I still believe it only affects remote retailers that have a place of business in the state though.

[ShoshTrvls]

And this has far less to do with local politicians than with a nationwide lobbying effort on the part of the International Council of Shopping Centers and other organizations and companies with bricks-and-mortar stores to even the playing field between them and the Amazons of the internet world. And, in fact, it benefits all of us in the long run, keeping vital retail stores competitive so that we can continue to have a thriving city and even grow, hopefully, our retail sector (something that we discuss endlessly here).

[borntochill]

This is sort of old news. It was supposed to happen in February, but they extended it to September. It's already been done.

I still believe it only affects remote retailers that have a place of business in the state though.

Correct. AFAIK, only online retailers with offices, sales people, delivery trucks, or other physical presence in Pennsylvania will be required to begin collecting PA sales tax by September 1. This will include some major online retailers like Amazon.com.

As Jayfar and others have mentioned, consumers making online purchases have always been required to report and pay local sales taxes, but non-compliance is high.

[mixiboi]

You'd think people would learn not to make things up on the internet..we all have google!
Amazon same-day delivery: How the e-commerce giant will destroy local retail. - Slate Magazine

Amazon has long enjoyed an unbeatable price advantage over its physical rivals. When I buy a $1,000 laptop from Wal-Mart, the company is required to collect local sales tax from me, so I pay almost $1,100 at checkout. In most states, Amazon is exempt from that rule. According to a 1992 Supreme Court ruling, only firms with a physical presence in a state are required to collect taxes from residents. Technically, when I buy a $1,000 laptop from Amazon, I’m supposed to pay a $100 “use tax” when I file my annual return with my home state of California. But nobody does that. For most people, then, most items at Amazon are significantly cheaper than the same, identically priced items at other stores.

In response to pressure from local businesses, many states have passed laws that aim to force Amazon to collect sales taxes (the laws do so by broadening what it means for a company to have a physical presence in the state). Amazon hasn’t taken kindly to these efforts. It has filed numerous legal challenges, and fired all of its marketing affiliates in Colorado, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and California. It also launched a $5 million political campaign to get voters to turn back the California law. And when Texas’ comptroller presented Amazon with a $269 million sales tax bill last year, the company shut down its distribution center in Dallas.
But suddenly, Amazon has stopped fighting the sales-tax war. Last fall it dropped its repeal campaign in California and instead signed a deal with lawmakers to begin collecting sales taxes later this year. That was followed by several more tax deals—over the course of the next couple years, Amazon will begin collecting sales tax from residents of Nevada, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, and on July 1, it began collecting taxes from Texans. It also currently collects taxes from residents of Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, and its home state of Washington. After all the tax deals go into effect, the company will be collecting taxes from the majority of its American customers.

But even that was a dream

Amazon Same-Day Delivery Might Have Been Wishful Thinking

[seand]

The new speculation is that the locker program - which they started rather quietly as a way to pick up your packages if you don't want to have them left at your house is how they will roll out same-day delivery. I.e. if you want it to your house - still UPS but you will eventually be able to get much quicker if you pick it up from a locker in a 7-11. The 7-11 part is because 7-11 has its own daily resupply chain that Amazon can simply hitch a ride on, supposedly. Or so they said on NPR's Marketplace.

[mixiboi]

Also explains why so many 7Elevens has sprung up all over Philly lately, especially in places of high business offices traffic....

[robot]

Or put another way, California and a number of revenue hungry states had taken aim at them and they came up with a plan to expand even under the inevitably eventually changing circumstances. Which is smart. Yeah we are going to be picking up our stuff from digital lockers in 7-11's even faster than UPS shortly from what I heard on the radio.

Seems smart to me. Although, I think people over estimate how much the no sales tax really drives amazon sales. Living in Philly with no car and a baby I rely on amazon to buy all of the bulky necessities that are annoying to haul home like bulk diapers, formula, and laundry detergent. With a prime membership I often get my orders the next day.

[seand]

When we were still using diapers a lot and the kid got too big for the old-school cloth service (that only really fit newborns), unbleached eco-diapers in bulk from Amazon was a godsend.

[raider.adam]

Seems smart to me. Although, I think people over estimate how much the no sales tax really drives amazon sales. Living in Philly with no car and a baby I rely on amazon to buy all of the bulky necessities that are annoying to haul home like bulk diapers, formula, and laundry detergent. With a prime membership I often get my orders the next day.

The amount of households that don't own a car is pretty small.

But to your greater point, I know when I am shopping around, the sales tax usually isn't enough to make the difference. But I am guessing a local retailer verse a remote retailer aren't necessarily facing off on price head to heads, but more along the instant gratification factor (say for items that would be below $50 in sales tax). That tends to be where I make a lot of decisions cost savings verse getting ti right away. Obviously adding sales tax and shipping to the costs helps the local retailer in that decision.