Sales and Use tax:
The U.S. Supreme Court decided
National Bellas Hess Co. Inc. in
1967 which outlaws the collection of sales tax on most mail order
products because out-of-state sales taxes violated the
Due Process Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment and created an unconstitutional burden on
interstate commerce.
The U.S. Supreme Court decided
Quill Corporation in 1992 which
continued to outlaw the collection of sales tax on most mail
order products because even if out-of-state sales taxes no longer
violated the Due Process Clause because a corporation may have some
"minimum contacts" with a taxing State as is required by the Due
Process Clause - but they still lack the "substantial nexus" with that
State as is required by the
Commerce Clause (U. S.
Constitution Article I, Section 8, Clause 3).
Starting in May 2007 a big push is underway to allow new taxes on
internet:
http://news.com.com/Net+taxes+could+arrive+by+this+fall/2100-1028_3-6186193.html
A
bill to promote simplification and fairness in the administration and
collection of sales and use taxes:
http://enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=7eb43fbe-daf5-46d9-bead-da73ac303e7f
Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board:
http://www.streamlinedsalestax.org/
Why Milky Way Midnight bars are taxable and Milky Way bars are not.:
http://www.streamlinedsalestax.org/library/Candy%20Amendment%20Jan%202004.pdf
Internet access tax:
A second category of higher Net taxes is technically unrelated, but is
increasingly likely to be linked when legislation is debated in
Congress in 2007/2008. That category involves access taxes, meaning
taxes that local and state governments levy to single out broadband or
dial-up connections.
If the temporary federal moratorium is allowed to expire in November
2007, states and municipalities will be allowed to levy a dizzying
array of Net access taxes - meaning a monthly Internet connection bill
could begin to resemble a telephone bill or airline ticket with
innumerable and confusing fees tacked on at the end. In some
states, telephone fees, taxes and surcharges run as high as 20 percent
of the bill.
These fees that states levy on mobile phones, cable TV and landlines
run far higher than state sales taxes at an average of 13.3 percent,
cost the average household $264 a year, and total $41 billion
annually, according to a report published by the Chicago-based
Heartland Institute this month. Landlines are taxed at the highest
rate, 17.23 percent, with Internet access being virtually tax free,
with the exception of a few states that were grandfathered in a decade
ago.
|
