Summary
Senators voted 75 to 24 to attach an endorsement of Internet sales taxes onto a Democratic budget bill. The opposed senators are predicting this idea is antibusiness and a "bureaucratic nightmare." Levying Internet sales taxes on American shoppers will also harm taxpayers. This amendment is allowing states to "collect taxes on remote sales," and is intended to eventually bring in the first national Internet sales tax. Senators voted on this after a week of fierce lobbying from the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represent companies including Walmart, Target, AutoZone, Best Buy, Home Depot, OfficeMax, Macy's, and the Container Store. These associations argue that online retailers that don't collect sales tax have an unfair competitive advantage over physical stores. However, taxpayers argue that this amendment amounts to a multibillion dollar tax hike on American consumers.
Reason for choosing this article
I chose this article because I do a lot of shopping online, mainly because it costs less than buying in stores. I don't need to drive anywhere and there is no sales tax. Sales tax is about 10% which can add on a lot of $ and this is why many people shop online. This article caught my attention right away and I am not happy about what is going on. I never even thought about this advantage to shopping in stores before reading this article. This was an eye opener to me and I chose it to educate myself and others.
Personal and Social Values at stake and ethical implications
I think it's really interesting these multi-billion dollar companies are complaining about not having sales tax in their online stores. I actually find it ridiculous. These companies and stores are already making so much profit, why make things more difficult and expensive for us? I think it is unethical to apply sales tax online. I believe there is sales tax in store because there are people working in the stores. There are way less people needed to run an online store, so there shouldn't be any sales tax. I don't think the Senate realizes how much more $ we as taxpayers are going to have to pay. So what online stores have a competitive advantage, that doesn't mean people are going to shop shopping physically in stores. Shipping costs are enough to deal with when online shopping, there doesn't need to be taxes on top of that.
Credibility of its sources
Declan McCullagh is the chief political correspondent for CNET. His sources are directly from the Senate.
Senators voted 75 to 24 to attach an endorsement of Internet sales taxes onto a Democratic budget bill. The opposed senators are predicting this idea is antibusiness and a "bureaucratic nightmare." Levying Internet sales taxes on American shoppers will also harm taxpayers. This amendment is allowing states to "collect taxes on remote sales," and is intended to eventually bring in the first national Internet sales tax. Senators voted on this after a week of fierce lobbying from the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represent companies including Walmart, Target, AutoZone, Best Buy, Home Depot, OfficeMax, Macy's, and the Container Store. These associations argue that online retailers that don't collect sales tax have an unfair competitive advantage over physical stores. However, taxpayers argue that this amendment amounts to a multibillion dollar tax hike on American consumers.
Reason for choosing this article
I chose this article because I do a lot of shopping online, mainly because it costs less than buying in stores. I don't need to drive anywhere and there is no sales tax. Sales tax is about 10% which can add on a lot of $ and this is why many people shop online. This article caught my attention right away and I am not happy about what is going on. I never even thought about this advantage to shopping in stores before reading this article. This was an eye opener to me and I chose it to educate myself and others.
Personal and Social Values at stake and ethical implications
I think it's really interesting these multi-billion dollar companies are complaining about not having sales tax in their online stores. I actually find it ridiculous. These companies and stores are already making so much profit, why make things more difficult and expensive for us? I think it is unethical to apply sales tax online. I believe there is sales tax in store because there are people working in the stores. There are way less people needed to run an online store, so there shouldn't be any sales tax. I don't think the Senate realizes how much more $ we as taxpayers are going to have to pay. So what online stores have a competitive advantage, that doesn't mean people are going to shop shopping physically in stores. Shipping costs are enough to deal with when online shopping, there doesn't need to be taxes on top of that.
Credibility of its sources
Declan McCullagh is the chief political correspondent for CNET. His sources are directly from the Senate.