tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post8332101029081751155..comments2024-03-28T09:22:36.967+13:00Comments on Offsetting Behaviour: Internet sales taxes revisitedEric Cramptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-73503318142324117132013-05-18T01:48:56.162+12:002013-05-18T01:48:56.162+12:00PA does the same thing to stores just across the b...PA does the same thing to stores just across the border in MD. My cousins have a habit of turning south out of the parking lot and then turning around down the road.Granite26noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-10584416928974428962013-05-11T19:55:52.840+12:002013-05-11T19:55:52.840+12:00I had thought that VA had cops sitting at the DC l...I had thought that VA had cops sitting at the DC liquor stores, recording plate numbers for later catching at the bridges. <br /><br />Is any state's sales tax high enough to warrant transshipment? I suppose for some high value, low weight products. Ekh...what a mess.Eric Cramptonhttp://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-90264627988501468302013-05-11T00:05:43.173+12:002013-05-11T00:05:43.173+12:00Since I grew up in Northern VA the reason the resi...Since I grew up in Northern VA the reason the residents went to DC to purchase liquor was because the prices were cheaper. Virginia sold liquor via state run alcohol beverage control stores(ABC). DC had private businesses selling liquor who drummed up business by aggressively promoting their products. Over a period of years Virginia decided it was wiser and simpler to allow VA grocery stores to competitively price beer and wine and to allow the ABC stores to competitively price their liquor than to ask police officers to monitor liquor sales at the border. The simple solution won but it took many years and a lot of complaining by local residents and grocery stores.<br /><br />If we try to look for a simple solution to internet sales tax we do not have one for either the small businesses or the smaller states. If I had a choice of creating a small business that was tax exempt or expand one that would pay internet sales taxes, I would choose to create a tax exempt business. Internet retailing is brutal so any advantage I get on Amazon is good! What can California do? Sue me in civil court!? Good luck with that!<br /><br />Does anyone think it will be cost effective for Alaska and the other smaller states to try collect internet sales tax? I am sure there are state employees who are dreading the thought of thousands of sales tax applications that will result in little to no tax revenue. All that work for so little money. Isn't this the same situation as posting police officers at the border to catch out of state liquor sales? Customers are amazingly adaptive. I would not be surprised if we create a new market for package forwarding from states that do not collect sales tax. If the internet sales tax is not as simple to implement as the payroll tax, it will fail. Simplicity wins in the end.Bill Hubernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-66193922660316833902013-05-09T13:33:34.222+12:002013-05-09T13:33:34.222+12:00Rival police gangs fighting one another. I approve...Rival police gangs fighting one another. I approve.Eric Cramptonhttp://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-67862585875186419442013-05-09T13:16:07.043+12:002013-05-09T13:16:07.043+12:00I was told a story many years ago about how Massac...I was told a story many years ago about how Massachusetts would not allow their residents to buy tax-free alcohol in New Hampshire and then carry the liquor across the state border. Massachusetts cops would hover at New Hampshire liquor stores close to the MA border, and radio back the licence plates of buyers to other cops sitting just on the other side of the border. So New Hampshire responded by having their cops arrest the MA cops for loitering!Seamus Hogannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-13263465148291963382013-05-09T09:00:58.045+12:002013-05-09T09:00:58.045+12:00I thought I remembered that VA police would keep a...I thought I remembered that VA police would keep an eye out for VA residents going to DC liquor stores to evade higher VA taxes, but I couldn't find anything on it online and wasn't sure enough about my memory...Eric Cramptonhttp://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-32716263274038357652013-05-09T00:59:38.613+12:002013-05-09T00:59:38.613+12:00Interesting nugget: I HAVE been asked where I liv...Interesting nugget: I HAVE been asked where I live when shopping at a Walmart on the Washington/Oregon border.<br /><br /><br />Confused the hell out of me, but it turns out they were collecting sales tax for both. (and charging a different rate.)Granite26noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-37261077307774575622013-05-08T13:47:54.298+12:002013-05-08T13:47:54.298+12:00The warehouse then just needs to be sited in one o...The warehouse then just needs to be sited in one of the five-or-so states without a sales tax.Eric Cramptonhttp://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-63890474833604050652013-05-08T11:40:20.588+12:002013-05-08T11:40:20.588+12:00There are two easy solutions for federal countries...There are two easy solutions for federal countries like the U.S. and Canada. (Easy, that is, except in a public choice sense.) <br />1. Make indirect taxation an exclusively federal jurisdiction, setting a highish broad-based value-added tax that is common across all states/provinces.<br />2. Change the tax from zero-rating exports and taxing imports, to the reverse. If that sounds crazy, remember the Lerner equivalence theorem: an export tax and an import tax are equivalent in their effects (both tax trade). Shifting from a 10% import tax to a 10% export tax would cause an offsetting depreciation of 10% and leave after tax prices unchanged, but with an important exception. Now imports that take the form of leaving the jurisdiction and consuming overseas are effectively brought into the tax net, while exports sold within jurisdiction (haircuts to tourists, for example) are effectively exempt. And the optimal way of dealing with out-of-state internet purchases in this world? Tax at origin not destination.Seamus Hogannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-14410767997761197462013-05-08T11:29:04.799+12:002013-05-08T11:29:04.799+12:00One thing that doesn't seem to have been consi...One thing that doesn't seem to have been considered so far is how this is going to affect re-shippers, in particular NZ Post's "YouShip" service. As I understand it, from the vendor's perspective goods are simply shipped to a warehouse somewhere in the US, after which NZ Post reposts the goods to the NZ purchaser--the vendor has no idea that the purchaser is not in the US.<br />The problem here is that the vendor will now be charging GST (or whatever the US calls GST) on the goods, at the rate applicable in the state where the warehouse is located. Contrast this with the situation where the vendor ships directly to NZ--no tax would apply. <br />It's not a major issue in the big scheme of things, but it is bad policy (exported goods shouldn't be subject to GST), and it will make re-shipping services less attractive than they previously were.Rupertnoreply@blogger.com