White House: Internet Sales Tax ‘Will Level The Playing Field’

[sofa king]

91. I think this is insane.

Think for just one moment how much larger the enforcement and CID wings of the IRS would have to grow just to enforce minimal participation. Think of the costs of implementing, recording, reporting, auditing, and defending, brought down upon every American business that has something you can buy online.

Then remember that Internet-only businesses can "relocate" to an overseas server in a matter of seconds, and that the kids who run those businesses are far more adept than the agencies chasing them, and that any criminal who does find a way to evade taxes instantly gains a price-point advantage over those who just lost money trying to play by the rules.

Also keep in mind that the Internet was invented so that any single physical place within the network could be easily and permanently avoided. So if any "place" attempts to assert too much authority over it, it can and will simply be cut out just as if it were obliterated by a nuke (the original reason for the Internet's design).

Think of how incredibly fucking rich I could get by setting up a FedEx-type operation on the US-Canadian border that flies domestically produced packages in, puts them on a treadmill that rolls them into Canada, sends a signal to complete the domestic transaction in Canada, applies a foreign shipping label, and then rolls them back into the US, tax free. I'd have to buy some Senators (and Canadian MPs) to keep it duty-free, but a Kickstarter campaign could probably finance that.

Hell, I've changed my mind. This is a great idea!