NYCPHP Meetup

[Jerry B. Altzman]

on 2008-08-13 19:14 (Margaret) Michele Waldman said the following:
> Is an ebusinesses supposed to file taxes and licenses in every state they
> are doing business?

It's an open question.

> How else are those sales taxes paid?

??? Typically, it is up to the individual to file and pay sales tax on 
any purchases he makes where the merchant doesn't collect and submit the 
tax.

> If you charge them you are supposed to pay them to the state.

That's why stores have those silly signs: "We don't *charge* sales tax, 
we *collect* it."

> NY has a line on the tax return for people to pay their online purchases
> taxes.
> That's crazy.  If the store is in NJ, it should pay NJ taxes.  That's where
> the product is being sold and shipped from.

Whether or not it's crazy, that's not the way things work.

I cannot emphasize this enough: be careful. States have very different 
ideas about what's taxable, what's not, and what constitutes a "business 
presence" in the state (the typical way they USED to decide if you had 
to collect and submit sales tax). As far as I can tell, NY is making any 
"large" retailer ANYWHERE nowadays collect and submit sales tax to NYS 
on your behalf. vis. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/nyregion/02amazon.html

> You would definitely need a cron job to keep track of the changing sales
> taxes.

Or an accountant, or a tax lawyer. Or both. And you thought keeping 
abreast of Linux security updates was a pain!

//jbaltz
-- 
jerry b. altzman        jbaltz at altzman.com     www.jbaltz.com
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