Congress jumps into 'Amazon sales tax' issue

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Congress jumps into 'Amazon sales tax' issue

Three Democrats have introduced a federal bill that would require online retailers such as Amazon.com to collect states' sales taxes.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill) and Representatives John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) call their proposal that was introduced July 29 the Main Street Fairness Act.

Amazon.com, which has been fighting individual states – including California – over efforts to require online retailers to collect state and local sales tax, is supporting the bill, according to a letter to Durbin from Amazon.com Vice President for Global Public Policy Paul Misener.

[ocregister.com...]

[dibbern2]

This whole issue has been a mass of confusion. It's politically simple: protect main street.

I hope Durbin and Conyers' efforts bring this out into the sunshine and we move towards something we can all live with.

[aleksl]

Democrats asking for more Taxes. Socialism at work.

Instead lets go back to tariffs. (shocking)

This way (with tariffs) we will levy taxes back onto large corporations (reminder: 75% of top 100 corps either don't pay, or PAY VERY LITTLE TAX). We will also protect US manufacturers from cut-throat chinese prices (and hence Walmartization of the economy). Main Street is already protected due to their nature of being multi-national (i.e. being able to shift money around to avoid taxation). This way we may finally be able to bring manufacturing back to US, prevent crappy chinese-made good from killing small businesses, and WILL collect enough taxes to finally lower personal income tax (oh, another shocker).

Seriously though, I think US politicians are completely SOLD OUT to big business. This country has absolutely NO brave politicians with guts who can stand up to them, which means the whole set of actors who pretend to care will do nothing (unless it profits them or their lobbyist) until INEVITABLE COLLAPSE. What a shame.

[Greg_Rice]

They need to first address the issue of their spending. More taxes on an already overburdened public only gives them more to spend.

We need to remember corporations pass on taxes to us in the way of higher costs for goods and services so "stick it to the corporations" translates into "stick it to us".

[aleksl]

"stick it to the corporations" translates into "stick it to us".

That is what corporations sing so you believe it.
Nope, that is NOT how it works.

You already have way too much chinese cheap junk, that your wife wouldn't have bought anyway had there not been any available. SO, instead of buying cheap chinese junk that breaks all the time (I have a collection of about 10 dead chinese-made tea kettles, average life 3 months, TOTAL JUNK) - instead you would've have paid more to get a better quality US-made product, ONE. So, in retrospect, you want to pay more for higher quality anyway.

Tarriffs had been enforcing this everywhere in the world, preventing excessive corporate profits and protecting local labor. In US, local labor is now destroyed, there's no other way out but to block cheap chinese crap from the market. They'll have tarrifs, Wallmarts will bump the prices, US goods immediately will become competitive, manufacturing will immediately resume on US soil. My and your wives will stop buying cheap chinese garbage which both of us know costs x4 as much anyway on replacements and additional trips to the store. It is basic economics.

You have to address both issues simultaneously - the corporations not paying tax and overspending by corporation-controlled government. IN either case, CORPORATIONS are the problem.

[ergophobe]

Socialism at work.

Yes, levelling the playing field so that local merchants are not at a disadvantage against people from far away is socialism. Let's stop that.

Main Street is already protected due to their nature of being multi-national

You are confusing Main Street and Wall Street. Main street is under threat because it is *local* and therefore has to pay sales tax, while large, out-of-state corporations like Amazon do not.

Democrats asking for more Taxes.

Democrats recognizing that 99% of Amazon customers, who legally owe these taxes according to current law, do not pay them, and therefore asking merchants to collect them, just as they do of merchants on Main Street, so that merchants on main street can compete fairly with Amazon.