Online Sales Tax? No Big Deal
from the won't-matter dept
For all the whining and complaining by online retaiers saying that forcing them to charge sales tax would destroy their businesses, a new study says it won't make a big difference. It turns out that, no matter how loud the debate has gotten in some circles, most consumers have no idea that they can avoid sales tax by buying online, and very very few actually make buying decisions based on whether or not the site collects the tax. This doesn't surprise me, actually. While I remember it being a big deal early on, most people I know never talk about the sales tax issue. I think most people are now accustomed to all the various fees that get tacked on to all our bills that we almost expect additional charges to show up at the final stage of a purchase. So, the addition of a sales tax may be annoying, but I doubt it would change too many shopping habits. Of course, that doesn't answer the question about what justification states have for charging taxes on companies that aren't actually using any state resources.
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Just did my CA tax return yesterday
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Seen the commercial that has the line that goes something like "80% of all internet customers don't complete the transaction ...." it is/was a fun (and true) commerical. I think those 80% who are/were bailing are the ones who watch their 50 dollar purchase suddenly costing 60+.
All that said, I'll see whether or not it deters my internet shopping. May or may not. Only time (and statistics) will tell.
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