Internet sales tax coming soon to all states

[Skip]

Interesting possible unintended (or intended) consequence:

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2018/06/daniel-zimmerman/supreme-court-sales-tax-ruling-could-mean-trouble-for-gun-owners/


tl;dr: anti gun states could use the sales tax auditing process to root out citizens not complying with registration schemes.

Yup, but... The Lib states could get this info just by filing a claim against a company.

There are four(?) websites a state could sue to get information about 99%+ of the gun owners who actively shoot right down to the caliber in their state. Their suit could be BS and they would still get the data.

[Eric P]

Or just not store and destroy customer specific data after shipping beyond what is needed to comply with federal corporate tax requirements. Brick and mortar stores dont store data when items are purchased via cash in person. So treat treat inet sales the same. When a state calls, say you dont track, not are you required to comply with their laws.

[68Charger]

And now ebay is asking me (of all people) to sign a petition so congress will address this issue.

[Skip]

I think if I were one of those companies (e.g. like Midway) I'd make it very, very public, involve the NRA/public and ask for legal donations, and announce that you will refuse all out-of-state court orders for production in all circumstances, openly announce that California and it's judges can go %$#$ itself, if they want to enforce it, they better bring a lot of guns across state lines, and take it all the way.

6 months of a contempt sentence - which cannot be extradited anyway - would be worth the risk, and your loyalty would be rewarded handsomely down the road.

I would hope this is how it would be handled, but I doubt it. I imagine there is some legal wrangling where a Lib state could reach into a company's life and ruin it.

And the Conservative state would allow it because our principles demand dutiful suicide.

And now ebay is asking me (of all people) to sign a petition so congress will address this issue.

I'm not sure how that would work. State taxation is one of the few 10th Amendment powers left. USSC just said this is a state tax issue.

Ebay can bend over and take it with a smile. Their politics begged for more government. They are getting more government!

[Irving]

I think if I were one of those companies (e.g. like Midway) I'd make it very, very public, involve the NRA/public and ask for legal donations, and announce that you will refuse all out-of-state court orders for production in all circumstances, openly announce that California and it's judges can go %$#$ itself, if they want to enforce it, they better bring a lot of guns across state lines, and take it all the way.

6 months of a contempt sentence - which cannot be extradited anyway - would be worth the risk, and your loyalty would be rewarded handsomely down the road.

Maybe that would have flown in the 80's. The isn't a company worth a crap now that isn't so interested in your consumer profile that anyone would believe for one second that they'd throw away your purchase records.

[Irving]

I feel like they could always recover the customer info from the frequent massive security breaches if they were so inclined.

[Eric P]

Wrong quote! But agreed.

Surprisingly, what can often work in a legal context is "we had catastrophic server loss and all records archived prior to one month ago have been lost". However, "We didn't keep them" is no bueno.

But, legally speaking, are they required to keep or track customer purchases for any reason? Treat all transactions as cash transactions.

It would be a good marketing plow to attract customers wanting to avoid interstate taxation.

Who actually reports usage tax on their income taxes for purchases made in person?

Not paying or minimizing paid taxes is the most american of traditions.

[NFATrustGuy]

Wrong quote! But agreed.

Surprisingly, what can often work in a legal context is "we had catastrophic server loss and all records archived prior to one month ago have been lost". However, "We didn't keep them" is no bueno.

The Corporate version of a tragic boating accident!