When you dial up the internet and buy something — a refrigerator, a movie, a new phone, a tiger — you don’t pay sales tax. A 1992 Supreme Court ruling says states can’t regulate interstate commerce, so folks selling stuff online don’t have to collect sales tax for states, which translates into cheaper purchases for consumers.
Ohio and other states want that money, however, and the Buckeye State’s attempt to recoup that money comes via state income tax form — Ohioans are supposed to voluntarily declare their online purchases as a “use tax.”
If you guessed no one in Ohio is actually doing that, you’d be absolutely correct. A study from researchers at the University of Cincinnati claims only 1% are doing the noble and honest thing and ponying up the extra cash, even though Ohio has no way of tracking these things, and the 99% — no, not that 99% — is costing Ohio $200 million a year. Via WTAM:
This article appears in Oct 19-25, 2011.
this isn’t just an internet phenomenon. it has been going on for a long time. We have the “outlet” stores just over the line in Pa. Same scenario. It was there before the internet. And the state gov’t was cryin then too.
So the 99% that is whining and screaming like little snot-rag brats at OWS protests aren’t doing their part. Typical liberal cowards. It’s always “I want other people’s money but leave your hands off of my stash.”
So Smash, you think that the 99% not paying don’t include rich folks? Get a clue, they’re the ones with the most money to spend on crap they don’t need.
How many poor people have you met with a credit card, laptop and internet??
There was a time when “lost” meant you once had something and now you don’t. You “lost” a ten dollar bill because it fell out of your pocket. Today, if the guy in front of you FINDS a ten dollar bill YOU have “lost” it because he got it instead of you. Gradually, the record companies, the movie makers, and our beloved government have come to believe that certain vast sums of money would so surely be theirs if only a law were passed or the police did this or your internet provider did that or the population in general did the other thing, that they count money they never had, likely never would have had and never will have as “losses”. Even money they would like to take from others become losses to them. They never consider the actual persons surrendering the loot as having a loss because, you see, they should never have had the money anyway. And so our language evolves and grows.