Online Sales "Use Tax"?

This was one of the questions on the 2007 California Tax Returns…



To quote H.I. McDunnough from "Raising Arizona"

"There's what's right, and there's what's right, and never the twain shall meet."

[shilala]

This may be one of those things specific to California.
It's not a secret that California is having some money problems. Rather than seeking so many new ways to tax, maybe they thought it would make sense to chase what they should already have coming to them?
In my way of thinking, they'll end up spending thousands to collect hundreds.
Maybe they're just putting the word out as best they can through the avenues already available in order to gather up a few bucks?

[forgop]

I think this applies in virtually all states. The problem is with being able to enforce it though from the IRS perspective. The IRS is a governmental agency, so don't put anything past them to spend more than what they'd collect.

[webjunkie]

Brain fried at the moment, so I'm using that as my excuse for confusion but this is a question I'm still wondering about.

I know that physically I'm in CO, so I pay taxes here. I'm still confused as to why they get to tax a purchase I make online from a store in say CA. I mean I generally agree with the idea of taxes. Good for roads, schools, etc, but sometimes it just feels like I'm being taxed twice. Unless I'm buying cigars, then it feels like I'm being taxed four or five times.

Render unto Caeser the things that are Caesers,,,,glad the sumbich died along time ago so I don't have to pay another tax. By the time I get thru paying all of my taxes that you see here: Ask me again if I call the State and tell them I missed a Users Tax!!
Capital Gains Tax
CDL License Tax
Court Fines (indirect taxes)
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
Inheritance Tax
Interest Expense (tax on the money)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Local Income Tax
Luxury Taxes
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Road Toll Booth Taxes
Sales Taxes
School Tax
Service Charge Taxes
Social Security Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Toll Bridge Taxes Toll
Tunnel Taxes
Tax Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Workers’ Compensation Tax

[jquirit]

Originally Posted by mrreindeer

I just received in the mail a letter from my Accountant informing me of the California "Use Tax" for out-of-state (and therefore 'tax-free') online (or regular) purchases.

Am I living in a closet? I've never heard of this. Have you?

When I did live in California (about 4 years ago) I remember the little insert in the tax booklet that would ask you to state this. I tossed it out. Enforcement of this would be tough (for a state) to do and it's more of those with a "guilty conscience" to come clean.

The current on-line retail of "tax-free" exchange was one of the things Congress was attempting to "fix" this year, allowing for states to charge for sales tax even though you didn't reside in the same state (or you'd pay taxes for the state you do reside in). A good question is I wanted to ask is: like for a state like California that has different sales taxes depending on what part of the state you're in, which sales tax do you pay?

I guess they should go ahead and TRY to collect it. Most states can't afford to try and go after this type of tax. I would make sure that any business that turns over purchase records would be splashed all over the web. I think most businesses would rather lose these records than report them.