lisagauss Posted December 6, 2002 Share Posted December 6, 2002 Revenue-hungry states today took the first step toward building a national framework for taxing items sold over the Internet. In a meeting in Chicago, lawmakers and tax officials from 30 states -- including Virginia and the District of Columbia - endorsed a proposal to simplify their tax laws and enter into a voluntary pact to collect online sales taxes. Maryland officials present at the meeting abstained from today's vote. "This is a 21st century system that will dramatically improve the morass that currently exists," said Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt ®, a key leader in the states' effort. "I'm confident that this agreement....will mark the beginning of a new phase of this process." The voluntary program would take effect when at least 10 states representing 20 percent of the U.S. population have amended their laws to implement the program. Participating states would then be free to ask Congress to approve a mandatory, nationwide online sales tax regime. It's unclear, however, if Congress would go along with any online sales tax proposal. "We think that once these states have simplified their systems it will be appropriate for the federal government to reward that effort," said R. Bruce Johnson, commissioner of the Utah state tax commission and co-chair of the implementing states group. "We're doing everything we can to make it clear that the states can work together." Currently, 45 states and the District of Columbia levy sales taxes, with rates varying from state to state -- and often from town to town. Under the Streamlined Sales Tax Project proposal, states would be required to establish uniform definitions for taxable goods and services, and maintain a single statewide tax rate for each type of product. The project also seeks to simplify tax reporting requirements for online sellers. Currently, there are more than 7,000 different state and local tax jurisdictions nationwide. Today's vote is a welcome development for the nation's largest main street retailers, who have argued for years that the current system gives online vendors an edge over so-called "bricks-and-mortar" stores. "Our ultimate goal is that everybody will have to play by the same rules," said Maureen Riehl, state and industry relations counsel for the National Retail Federation, a trade group that represents nearly 1.4 million stores. And for states facing rising budget deficits, the stakes are huge. The U.S. General Accounting Office has estimated states lose nearly $13 billion each year on untaxed Internet transactions. That figure will more than triple to $45 billion by 2006, according to a 2001 University of Tennessee study conducted for the Institute of State Studies. source: washington post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekrosoft13 Posted December 6, 2002 Share Posted December 6, 2002 damn so now online retailers will demend tax :s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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