Should we (could we) tax E-Commerce?
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In Quill v. North Dakota, US Supreme Court ruled
that states cannot force businesses in other states to collect their taxes....
Only Congress can authorize taxation of interstate commerce. And such authorization
is not likely to occur.
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In GOP "E-Contract with America," members of Congress
promised not to allow taxation of e-commerce
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George W. Bush has stated that he would veto any measure
that taxed e-commerce. (George H. W. Bush's abandonment of "Read my lips"
campaign pledge was a key factor in 1992 loss)
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Political liability: Use tax, if enforced, would effectively
be a "new" tax and would be perceived as such by constituents
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Because local and in-state markets are small, most successful
Wyoming businesses must export more goods and services than they sell within
the state. Not only would we serve as unpaid tax collectors for other states,
but we would be doing so for the explicit purpose of deterring out-of-state
customers from dealing with us.
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Since we're a net exporter and have small markets, we'd
collect far more for other states than they'd collect for us.
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Wyoming natives will still travel physically to other
states (e.g. Montana) to buy big-ticket items
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