To the editor:
As both a bricks and mortar and online retailer and strong supporter of “buying local,” I totally agree that sales taxes should be being collected on all purchases and paid to states by their residents regardless of where good are shipped to or purchased from.
The crux of the problem for my small business is in the execution of that policy.
I spend time every month preparing and filing Maine sales taxes online. To do the same for the more than 40 states where sales taxes are charged would currently be a huge burden though I can envision a system that could be easily developed through credit card processors (who have plenty of profit margin available with which to develop such a system) applying and passing through to purchasers either their own state’s tax rate or a simplified amalgamated rate so that individual businesses do not have to develop systems of their own to collect and report to dozens of state revenue agencies.
It would be fair and prevent the huge operators like Amazon from gaming the system by lobbying individual states for tax holidays.
Halcyon Blake,
Halcyon Yarn Inc.
Bath
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less