Article

2009-06-05 -Lurid Crime Tales-

Washington State May Charge Pirate Downloaders With Tax Evasion

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Posted by Anonymoose 2009-06-05 09:58|| || Front Page|| [11126 views ] Top

#1 Excellent. Please, time to dispel the myth that in which many consumers think music and movies come on the cheap and that the music recording / mixing is solely a cottage industry in someones garage?

Posted by Girlthursday 2009-06-05 10:13|| 2009-06-05 10:13|| Front Page Top

#2 Good luck trying to enforce that. You can mail order merchandise or download software from out of state and avoid sales taxes. First thing to claim is the file server is located out of state.

Posted by ed 2009-06-05 11:15|| 2009-06-05 11:15|| Front Page Top

#3 are they going count Microsoft Updates?
What about Open Source Downloads?

Posted by 3dc 2009-06-05 12:30|| 2009-06-05 12:30|| Front Page Top

#4 Ed__ I think that's "evade" not "avoid". According to some tax blogs, and Instapundit, I think, you currently have the obligation to pay local/state taxes on purchases out of state, including inet sales; it's just not enforced. There is a fed bill someplace in Congress that would require all Inet sellers to include sales tax for the home state of the purchaser to close up that little hole.

(PS ignore name - regardless of the message and the name, I am not a socialist)

Posted by Grerenter Trotsky7648 2009-06-05 13:16|| 2009-06-05 13:16|| Front Page Top

#5 And yet again, more hypocricy.

These are the guys who cook the books so none of their films ever make a net profit, BUT... the only reason they have problems is because of internet downloaders?

Y'know, they spent the last fifty years preaching a philosophy of disrespect for property, but they never thought the property being disrespected would _ever_ be theirs. As ye sow, so shall ye reap.

Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2009-06-05 13:35|| 2009-06-05 13:35|| Front Page Top

#6 It's not evasion since no laws are broken. While states have the right to ask for taxes on mail order merchandise, how are they going to enforce it w/o a fed mandate or reciprocal protocols between states. Is CA going to bring down their tax police on a TX seller? I don't think so. And if the seller's state is not collecting, what laws are broken? All it will do is migrate internet sales operations (and jobs) to states that do not try to collect sales taxes.

As for software, I used to sell enterprise type SW in the 90's. One of the options on the sales form was receive a SW CD and pay sales tax or download the SW (from outside CA, the company HQ) and sales tax was not charged. 6-8% on a $100-200K order is a good chunk of change. There was some federal law to encourage internet business activity. I'm sure all was on the up and up since the company is still in business.

Posted by ed 2009-06-05 13:48|| 2009-06-05 13:48|| Front Page Top

#7 The big Chicago Mobster back in the 30's was convicted of Tax Evasion for not paying taxes on his ill-gotten gains. My brain has gone and I can't think of his name.

Posted by Deacon Blues 2009-06-05 19:55|| 2009-06-05 19:55|| Front Page Top

#8 Al Capone.

Posted by Deacon Blues 2009-06-05 19:55|| 2009-06-05 19:55|| Front Page Top

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