Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

Not at all, as I explained earlier there are services and software that do exactly that. I described Taxware as one of those with which I have had experience. It's actually more granular than just Zip code; IIRC there were multiple jurisdictions possible within a Zip code, so you had to have the complete address. And like I mentioned earlier there are more than 9000 taxing authorities around the country.

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

A company called Vertex in PA (which I did work for years ago) started a business of managing the state tax collection etc for businesses.
Needless today I see them a gigantic company just doing tax administration. It doesn't make sense to me. Collect a VAT tax like Europe
and distribute the proceeds. I live in Florida now which has no state income tax. And no car inspection yearly. The savings are very big
and the aggravation. I had my own business and lived in PA for years. The state will drive you crazy. Years ago you would call state tax and say
and ask if a company that does creative or writing scripts and concepts for clients should charge sales tax. We would get a different answer
every time you call. Car inspection is good but I am very capable of taking care of my cars when they need it. Inspection allows dealers
and garages the op to charge for all kinds of repairs and upgrades you wouldn't do in FL.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

This whole "It's just to hard to do" stuff is baloney. If Walmart can tell you on the fly what is happening at every cash register in all their stores, then most online merchants can handle expanding their sales tax tables to cover a relatively small number of tax jurisdictions (in today's e-marketplace a table with fewer the 100,000 entries is relatively small and easy to accommodate).

Hal81 Loc: Bucks County, Pa.

Me, I don't care. Ive got money I haven't even folded yet.

WayneL Loc: Baltimore Md

The online sellers will have to drop their prices if they collect taxes. Why would I buy from them if it is the same price locally and put my hands on it right away. This will surely hurt their business.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

I always try to buy from local camera stores, but some (non-camera) things are more readily available online. And your assumption is not valid. Amazon has long been everywhere and collects sales tax. It did not seem to slow them down one iota.

Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

The problem with that is that you think statically, when everything is dynamic, especially on the Internet. Vendors can be very creative; they will adjust.

avman Loc: Normal IL

since it is Interstate Commerce....I believe this thread has established Federal Jurisdiction. Let the Feds collect 10% Sales Tax. They keep 75% of the 10% and distribute to the states the remaining 25% of the 10%. If I understand correctly that is how money is doled out for highways....Feds pay 75 % States pays 25 %.....but wait a minute, if the solution is simple, how will the corrupt politicians skimm off the top?

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

This will mean the end of the uncontrolled "Wild West" attitudes of ebay, Amazon, and others. Sucks to be big, wealthy and unregulated, doesn't it? My state (NY) years ago started making you pay an amount when you file your tax return to cover your untaxed online purchases, unless you say you didn't make any untaxed purchases. Apparently they take your word for it so far, but who knows....? If you go to register a car you bought in another state with a lower sales tax rate or from a private party, you have to pay the difference or the full rate at registration or you don't get registered!

JaiGieEse Loc: Foxworth, MS

Problem with this whole idea is that I live in an area that doesn't have a lot of stores that carry anything aside from the basics - food, clothes, hardware, auto parts and so on. It's gotten to the point that nearly anything technical I buy has to come from the internet. i'd love to shop locally - if I only have a place to shop.

I maintain an on-line shop through which I sell prints of my images and some few specialty items made with my images. The eCommerce company with whom I'm affiliated already collects sales taxes and other taxes when required. I've marked all my products - except for image licensing - to allow for this. Many times, no taxes are collected. If I sell a print to someone in my home state - Mississippi - s seven per cent sales tax is collected. There was one other instance in which taxes were collected, and that was when I sold a $10 wall calendar to a customer in New York State. On that transaction NY sales taxes were collected, as well as a NY tax on shipping - something new to me.

So my website host will collect whatever taxes are required, in any case.

JaiGieEse Loc: Foxworth, MS

Once a few years ago, my brother gave me a car. GAVE - as in, zero dollars changed hands. But when I went to my then-home county courthouse to get a tag, I was charged sales taxes. When I explained that there was NO sale involved, they shrugged and said I was required to pay the sales tax anyway.

The tax man will get you - one way or the other.

rcarol

I doubt that you're computer as it sits today could either collect or distribute the sales tax. A program needs to be written to do this. I doubt this program will be free. But more importantly, how do you distribute the money per zip code? I don't care how fast you think your computer is, this is going to be a nightmare. The US Government uses huge mainframe computers to keep tabs on individual income taxes. What makes you believe that collecting and distributing sales taxes can be relegated to a desktop computer or even a bank of desktop computers?

avman Loc: Normal IL

How else does the well intentioned pol skim off the top?

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

When I have done no-payment interfamily transfers of cars there has been no sales tax required. You have to do a form for it, I think. But it probably depends on how "immediate" the family member is.

Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

I suspect you don't know much about computers.

Here is a link to the service/software I mentioned a few times already:

http://go.taxware.com/STS-sales-tax-services.html

I'm sure there are others and like everything else in the world if there's a need for it, services will appear. Who would have thought you could accept credit cards using a smartphone and a simple little plug-in reader? In this connected world of ours, there should be or will be "an app for that" to calculate the proper sales tax and even deal with the remittance to the proper locations.