Is there anyone who doesn't shop for better buys on the internet? I didn't think so. And, one of the reasons why is because you can buy a lot of goods cheaper than you can at your local stores. Right? Well. Yeah. You can. And, part of that savings comes because the internet sales dealers don't charge and don't pay sales taxes. Taxes that would be passed along to the customers if collected.
If a current proposal is passed, that will come to a halt. There's a move to require sellers and, therefore, buyers to fork over a sales tax. The end result is that you'll be paying more. And, why shouldn't you? I don't want to pay any more than I must, but I also know that sales tax is used to fund government. If government doesn't get revenue from these sales sources, then they'll get it some other way.
Consider this. Internet Sales Guy charges $100 for an item he buys for $80. He has no overhead, no sales staff (generally speaking), and likely no business that he pays property taxes on. He can sell his product and have a net profit of $20. Shipping fees are added to the charges, but sales tax is not.
And, likely, he can move a LOT of product, nationally and internationally. With virtually no overhead. Therefore, he gets a better price from his supplier. Better than most small stores offering the same product.
Now consider this. Your local, neighborhood store carries a variety of products, items he has already paid for, at whatever price his distributor wants to charge him. All too often, the store pays as much to his distributor as the on-line dealer sells it for. Just for the sake of argument, let's consider that the store has to pay $100 for the same product that you can buy for $100 from the internet dealer. Let's assume he marks up the $100 item to $150. Outrageous, you think. A whopping $50 profit, even if you know the internet sales guy gets $20 for his investment.
Every day, consumers come to the store, check out the items they want, talk to the store's clerk, get advice, make a choice, then leave and order it on-line at a lower price. The local store has to maintain inventory, pay property taxes, pay employees, pay unemployment taxes, keep records, pay bookkeepers, pay sales taxes, all for what you consider to be an outrageous $50 markup. And, he has to try and compete with the on-line stores. To top that, the money you send to those on-line, out of state dealers, doesn't benefit the local economy one bit.
No wonder so many small, local businesses are going under.
Maybe an internet sales tax is a step in the right direction. Maybe it will make local stores at least one step closer to being competitive.
If a current proposal is passed, that will come to a halt. There's a move to require sellers and, therefore, buyers to fork over a sales tax. The end result is that you'll be paying more. And, why shouldn't you? I don't want to pay any more than I must, but I also know that sales tax is used to fund government. If government doesn't get revenue from these sales sources, then they'll get it some other way.
Consider this. Internet Sales Guy charges $100 for an item he buys for $80. He has no overhead, no sales staff (generally speaking), and likely no business that he pays property taxes on. He can sell his product and have a net profit of $20. Shipping fees are added to the charges, but sales tax is not.
And, likely, he can move a LOT of product, nationally and internationally. With virtually no overhead. Therefore, he gets a better price from his supplier. Better than most small stores offering the same product.
Now consider this. Your local, neighborhood store carries a variety of products, items he has already paid for, at whatever price his distributor wants to charge him. All too often, the store pays as much to his distributor as the on-line dealer sells it for. Just for the sake of argument, let's consider that the store has to pay $100 for the same product that you can buy for $100 from the internet dealer. Let's assume he marks up the $100 item to $150. Outrageous, you think. A whopping $50 profit, even if you know the internet sales guy gets $20 for his investment.
Every day, consumers come to the store, check out the items they want, talk to the store's clerk, get advice, make a choice, then leave and order it on-line at a lower price. The local store has to maintain inventory, pay property taxes, pay employees, pay unemployment taxes, keep records, pay bookkeepers, pay sales taxes, all for what you consider to be an outrageous $50 markup. And, he has to try and compete with the on-line stores. To top that, the money you send to those on-line, out of state dealers, doesn't benefit the local economy one bit.
No wonder so many small, local businesses are going under.
Maybe an internet sales tax is a step in the right direction. Maybe it will make local stores at least one step closer to being competitive.
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