[Leica] Borders / now sales tax

[kcarney1 at cox.net (Ken Carney)]

National Bella Hess, Quill and all those are interesting commerce clause 
decisions.  Where it gets really interesting is when the tax authorities 
of the various states cooperate to track out of state deliveries in the 
case of fine jewelry and art.  That will be $420,000 in use tax (the 
mirror of sales tax), please.  Art is a bad example since almost all of 
it on earth seems to reside in Switzerland.

Ken

On 2/16/2011 5:18 PM, Jim Shulman wrote:
> They ARE taxed, which is not the point.  The point is that companies that
> have no physical presence in a state cannot be forced to act as tax
> collectors for that state.  According to a 1967 Supreme Court decision (the
> National Bellas Hess decision) companies that do not have a physical
> presence in a state--which can include a store, a shipping/distribution
> center, a call center, a sales representative, etc.--cannot be forced to 
> act
> as sales tax agents for that state.  Thus, they do not collect sales taxes
> on those items.  Of course, as a law-abiding resident of that state you
> would remit the sales tax on items purchased out of state on your own,
> voluntarily, since this is both required by the law and good citizenship.
>
> As Bill Cosby used to say, "Yeah. Right."
>
> The issue comes down to regulation of interstate commerce, which is the 
> sole
> province of the federal government.
>
> As for camera stores staying in business, suffice it to say that the
> business model has changed so radically in the past decade that few are 
> able
> to survive.  Cameras have gone from a specialty item, requiring technical
> assistance and a variety of consumable supplies, to a computer peripheral
> requiring little additional supplies (save for batteries or the
> now-occasional print).  The whole point-n-shoot market has largely
> disappeared, thanks to sophisticated cell phone cameras.  The rock bottom
> end are paper cameras in drugstores; the top end, prosumer equipment sold 
> at
> big box stores, and pro gear sold in the few real camera stores left with
> sufficiently wealthy markets.
>
> Jim Shulman
> Wynnewood, PA
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lug-bounces+jshul=comcast.net at leica-users.org
> [mailto:lug-bounces+jshul=comcast.net at leica-users.org] On Behalf Of bill
> pearce
> Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 5:59 PM
> To: Leica Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Borders / now sales tax
>
> The subject of taxation of internet purchases is a thorny one. If all
> considerations were to be fair to all, then they would be taxed. But, 
> thanks
>
> to a far seeing group of etailers and generally foolish shoortsighted
> legislaters, it was not to be.
>
> I feel sorry for all the local camera stores that have been run out of
> business by the internet. I always check my local dealer before I make the
> inevitable move to B&H.
>
> Bill Pearce
>
>
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