Supreme Court rules in favor of brick & mortar businesses in sales tax dispute

[MichaelWinicki]

I sell online, but always felt brick & mortar businesses were getting jobbed because online businesses didn't have to collect sales tax.

The playing field is being leveled...

http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/21/technology/wayfair-vs-south-dakota/index.html

 

[big dog cowboy]

It's too late.

 

[CouchCoach]

We knew this was coming eventually but that state sales tax won't help the brick n mortars. Lifestyles have already changed and there's no going back. People will not change their shopping habits but this will benefit the states that collect it.

I wonder how this will affect states that have no sales tax days close to the beginning of school? That was just for the brick n mortars but now the online retailers have a case against that if they're paying sales tax.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

It's too late.

No, it's not going to change shopping habits much.

But it will create a new chunk of potential revenue for states.

And we will end up paying higher prices on Internet purchases.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

We knew this was coming eventually but that state sales tax won't help the brick n mortars. Lifestyles have already changed and there's no going back. People will not change their shopping habits but this will benefit the states that collect it.

I wonder how this will affect states that have no sales tax days close to the beginning of school? That was just for the brick n mortars but now the online retailers have a case against that if they're paying sales tax.

State lawmakers can't write laws fast enough to get this new revenue stream going.

 

[CouchCoach]

State lawmakers can't write laws fast enough to get this new revenue stream going.

Yep, Amazon has distribution warehouses in TX so if it's shipped in state, they get the tax,. Now they can get it on everything except food.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Yep, Amazon has distribution warehouses in TX so if it's shipped in state, they get the tax,. Now they can get it on everything except food.

A lot of 3rd party Amazon sellers are up in arms because they know their inherent price advantage has just vaporized...

While Amazon had been charging tax in just about every state for their own products, they haven't been for 3rd party sellers who did not want sales tax collected– which is about 1/2 of Amazon's sales.

The way I figure it is that Amazon will start collecting the tax for 3rd party sellers and do the paperwork for them– But it's going to come at a price to 3rd party sellers. Amazon has been slowly ratcheting up fees to those folks for the last couple years and this will only add to that burden... On top of losing their pricing advantage over brick & mortars.

Big ticket sellers like Wayfair are really going to feel it... The amount of sales tax on a $800 sofa is a big number and they held that advantage over local furniture stores... Well pfft. Wayfair was losing money hand over fist before this happened.

 

[roughneck266]

It's too late.

Unfortunately, I believe you are correct. Mom and Pop places are all but gone. I myself had to stop retail altogether and only manufacture. The field has been unlevel for so long at this point, there is just no way to regain the foothold the large retailers have gained.

 

[Rockport]

Another blow to us poor blokes.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I sell online, but always felt brick & mortar businesses were getting jobbed because online businesses didn't have to collect sales tax.

The playing field is being leveled...

http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/21/technology/wayfair-vs-south-dakota/index.html

You mean they ruled in favor of the states wanting to collect sales tax.

While I agree with you about leveling the playing field, it's also not fair to the businesses. For instances, business in state A has nothing to do with state B, yet state B decides that they can tax business A. This would be like state A, charging tax to Italy when you buy something from Italy. Yeah, lets see how that flies.

On the flp side, it's still not fair to brick and mortar stores because they are paying for real estate that internet sites do not pay. It's like MP3s and digital streaming content etc. You either adapt of your business dies. Sales tax isn't going to save brick and mortar stores. This only helps the states who already shot themselves in the foot because of corruption of state and local finances.

I live in Connecticut and the super rich in Connecticut are a major issue why Connecticut has such budget issues. The richest county in Connecticut is Fairfield and that is where Greenwich, CT is. The most massive and expensive houses in Connecticut are in Greenwich and Darien, both in Fairfield county. (a HUGE portion of the super rich bankers in the Financial district live there) Anyhow, Fairfield county has the second lowest mill rate on property tax. So the highest priced homes have the lowest tax rate. Corruption at its finest.

 

[YosemiteSam]

The way I figure it is that Amazon will start collecting the tax for 3rd party sellers and do the paperwork for them– But it's going to come at a price to 3rd party sellers. Amazon has been slowly ratcheting up fees to those folks for the last couple years and this will only add to that burden... On top of losing their pricing advantage over brick & mortars.

They will likely just pawn it off on business like Avalara who are already setup to do it. Then they will use their economy of scale to get the lowest price and then charge their resellers a higher rate per transaction. Amazon will continue to print money. This is just a new avenue to attack.

 

[CouchCoach]

You mean they ruled in favor of the states wanting to collect sales tax.

While I agree with you about leveling the playing field, it's also not fair to the businesses. For instances, business in state A has nothing to do with state B, yet state B decides that they can tax business A. This would be like state A, charging tax to Italy when you buy something from Italy. Yeah, lets see how that flies.

On the flp side, it's still not fair to brick and mortar stores because they are paying for real estate that internet sites do not pay. It's like MP3s and digital streaming content etc. You either adapt of your business dies. Sales tax isn't going to save brick and mortar stores. This only helps the states who already shot themselves in the foot because of corruption of state and local finances.

I live in Connecticut and the super rich in Connecticut are a major issue why Connecticut has such budget issues. The richest county in Connecticut is Fairfield and that is where Greenwich, CT is. The most massive and expensive houses in Connecticut are in Greenwich and Darien, both in Fairfield county. (a HUGE portion of the super rich bankers in the Financial district live there) Anyhow, Fairfield county has the second lowest mill rate on property tax. So the highest priced homes have the lowest tax rate. Corruption at its finest.

Knowledge is not power any longer, money is power. And those with the money wield the power.

Several years back, the Dallas City Council enacted the no smoking ban in the city of Dallas for bars and restaurants, even those with a separate cigar bar. There's this high end Mexican restaurant on the fringe of Highland Park named Javier's, the money town where Booger, Cuban and the fat cats live. The cigar bar was where a lot of those people congregated and there were a lot of lawyers that hung there, specifically Dallas city attorneys. They worked to get the city line of Highland Park moved to be alongside Javier's and changed his address to a Highland Park one from a Dallas one. Cigar bar saved. Or at least it was the last time I was there, which was 8 years ago.

Want power? Be rich. Want absolute power? Be a rich lawyer.

 

[punchnjudy]

A lot of store owners were already selling online. The ones who choose to strictly deal in a (much) smaller market? Good luck saving them. Also, for a lot of products, shipping charges were already close to sales tax.

This mostly benefits the large sellers who had a nexus in each state and, to some extent, state governments. No one knows how much sales tax revenue will be gained and how much income tax (if any, where it applies) will be lost. Also unknown is the effect on shipping companies and the post office.

 

[MonsterD]

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

No, it's not going to change shopping habits much.

But it will create a new chunk of potential revenue for states.

And we will end up paying higher prices on Internet purchases.

And make it easier for local vendors to compete.

 

[Cowpolk]

They all should just give the taxes to me

 

[Juggernaut]

Unfortunately this will probably hurt the small-businesses who sell on marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy the most, because they lack the resources to navigate the numerous laws of other states.