Internet Sales Tax [View all]

[liberalmike27]

http://www.calthomas.com/index.php?news=3982

It's rare that I agree with Cal Thomas--and I don't necessarily agree that more tax collection would lead to "binge spending," as he says. But I don't agree we should add taxes to things we purchase, through the Internet, that aren't located in our States, any more than I think when we are in California, from Alabama, if we buy something we should come home and pay taxes on that.

He also makes the point we should be trying to cut the local, brick and mortar taxes.

Seeing as how this has only passed the Senate so far (again, whatever they agree on is always f**ked up), there is still time to stop it.

Again, the basic principle is sales taxes are regressive. Anyone who spends their whole income, as poor and middle class people often do, pay sales and gas taxes on EVERYTHING they take home. Yet people who save money, not only don't pay sales taxes on that, but they draw interest as well. Millionaires, pay an extraordinarily small portion of their incomes in sales taxes.

It would be smarter for everyone to push for a lower sales tax, to be replaced by a tax on everyone, indexed like the federal income tax. Even a flat one percent, or 2 percent tax on everyone, would at least be more fair than the poor paying a higher percentage of taxes per income, than the very rich.