Tax A Lot, DMN
A tax-minded FrontBurnervian points to the following paragraph in the news item about taxed purchases on Amazon.com:
The state’s tax-collecting agency didn’t know Amazon.com was operating a facility here until this week when The Dallas Morning News called to ask why the online powerhouse wasn’t charging Texas customers sales taxes, said Robin Corrigan, the comptroller’s team leader for sales tax policy.
The FrontBurnervian wonders: “So not only might we be stuck paying sales tax for Amazon purchases, we have the DMN to blame for it. Tattle tales. And isn’t this pretty much creating news instead of reporting it?” I see his point.
21 Comments to “Tax A Lot, DMN”
Leave a Reply
All material copyright © 2008 D Magazine. All rights reserved.
Turds.
i don’t see his point
so here’s an enormous retailer in texas not paying sales tax to the state, which correct me if i’m wrong is some sort of law or someshite, and it’s the fault of the reporter for exposing such fraud and it’s the reporter’s fault also for creating a story that isn’t news?
i don’t get it
i guess “reporting” on last night’s American Idle or Romo’s gambling habits or the latest big, fat, Texas-sized liar are the only things this cat labels as news
Guess they don’t like investigative journalists either.
If you owned a local bookstore, you’d be shouting for joy. Amazon has had an unfair advantage.
Come to think of it, local bookstores buy newspaper ads. Amazon doesn’t.
Which side do you think a newspaper would take? Not Amazon’s.
Aren’t newspapers and their advertisers exempt from sales tax?
yeah, ALL internet purchases should be tax free .. those Texas roads can REPAIR THEMSELVES (no sales tax revenue).
As much as I don’t care for the DMN’s reporting, kudos to them for reporting this.
Why should Texas get a cut of an Amazon transaction? The state doesn’t do a single thing to facilitate, protect of aid in the transaction, and it’s likely the transaction doesn’t take place anywhere in Texas, or on a Texas-based server.
And even more — why should an online transaction be taxed to pay for local roads?
Amazing how people want to apply a 17th Century mechanism to a 21st Century economic model.
…protect, or aid…
Quick! Name a locally-owned bookstore that doesn’t deal in second-hand stuff (resale of in-print books cheats the author, don’t you think, o, ye morality monitor?)
There are NO local bookstores. You think Barnes & Noble and Borders are mom ‘n’ pop stores?
Pay more taxes to the state of Texas — great idea. More money in the hands of nitwits that gather every other year in Austin.
Publicnewsense, Can you hand deliver my check to William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and Mark Twain? i’m unable to find a forwarding address, and my morality is being plagued by buying their works, sans-compensation, second-hand at Half Price Books.
I do agree with you though…I don’t want another cent going to Rick Perry and Company.
Crap. And I was about to buy a used car. Wouldn’t want to cheat those engineers now! Better get into debt and buy only new!
How many of you folks that don’t want to pay taxes complain about poor roads, poorer schools, sagging law enforcement, high college tuition, etc., etc., etc. If you want the city, county, or state to pay for these things (and lots of others, I bet), and you don’t want to pay property taxes, it’s either a sales tax or an income tax, or both. No free lunch for you.
OK, here it is, Amazon failed to remit taxes to Texas. NOW, Amazon also failed to collect taxes from sales made from this warehouse to Texas citizens. SO, after the TAX police get thru with them, assesing bills for taxes not collected, fines, penalties and interest Amazon will be sending bills to the people who failed to pay the taxes on the sales. remember this is a sales and use tax. if you bought it and used it you owe Texas the tax. how will it end???
if the final bill, for example is 5 million Amazon will have the lawyers settle for 2 million for an immediate check.
DMN = Douche Bags
Jason, Jason, Jason….Ever buy a second-hand Jan Karon or Peter Mayle or Charles Portis? You can get their addresses — how about ever buy a second-hand Government Mule CD and download it onto your iPod? Hmmmm.
And, Anonymous, I’m not going to quibble with you over the difference between contracts for auto engineering and writing a novel, but I think I can assert this without argument: You’re in need of a tune-up; your plugs are fouled.
wow, man, there are some ignorant folks out there. folks that have little or no idea how capitalism actually works and how/why taxes get paid. we’re all flucked and it’s only gonna get worse
are you people truly prepared to pay $10 a gallon for gas and commute on roads with potholes the size of rhode island?
i guess yous are all gonna vote no on the DISD bond election tomorrow, too
so many simply just don’t get it…don’t understand taxes and paying for infrastructure that we take for granted
keep railing against your only daily newspaper and keep “demanding” tax abatements for online purchases and call me in 10 years, as i can’t wait to see what the future holds
bring it, chumps
jrp,
The State of Texas is projected to have a $10 billion surplus this year, and that’s with an enormous amount of bureaucratic waste.
Your argument is ridiculous.
Sincerely,
Chump.
like i said, it’s clear you have no comprehension of how government works
please explain how you think a $10B surplus is a bad thing and then explain what you think the state will do with that $10B
i know
and i’m still waiting for one of your posts to make any sense at all, chump, i used to be dumbfounded by this kind of narrow scope of the world, but i’ve come to expect it from dallasites and texans in general
“so here’s an enormous retailer in texas not paying sales tax to the state”
wrong Amazon is not COLLECTING the sales tax. The buyer pays the tax. Amazon is serving as the state’s agent.
also Amazon is only operating a distribution center in Texas. they have no physical retail presence.
AH, THE GREEDY BIG LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Can we take a breath? Or is that taxed now!
I am so sick of these bureaucrats.
with their “Click it or Ticket”, tax on my Mp3’s, and deciding what light bulb I use in my own home.
Get out of my freakin’ life!
You little former East German communists!