Congressional legislation aimed at sales tax collections for online shopping has prompted lengthy discussions recently over just how much states are losing to online retailers. In Louisiana, the staggering losses are in the neighborhood of $352 million for this year alone.
For shoppers looking to save a few bucks, online buying often means avoiding both the local and state sales taxes one would pay if purchases were made at a cash register. In the city limits of Lafayette, Duson, Carencro, Scott and Broussard, the local sales tax rate is 4 percent, combined with the state’s 4 percent sales tax for a total of 8 percent, according to the Lafayette Economic Development Authority’s website. In Youngsville, shoppers pay an 8.5 percent sales tax, while a number of economic development districts (aka TIFs) throughout the parish garner higher sales tax rates as shown in the accompanying chart provided by the Louisiana Association of Tax Administrators.
According to The Daily Iberian, a study authored by University of Tennessee professor and economist Donald Bruce predicts 25 percent of Louisiana’s $1.3 billion in sales tax collections won’t make it to the state’s coffers, also pointing out that the state’s “self-reporting” sales tax law asking consumers to track their own online purchases generated only $1.3 million in collections during the last fiscal year:
But evading sales tax is not so easy as shopping online. Many cyberspace retailers charge the tax at the transaction, but it varies from retailer to retailer. Walmart charges the local area’s standard [sales tax rate] as does Barnes and Noble. Both Target and Sports Authority charge around 4 percent. Meanwhile, on Ebay some sellers charge tax, others do not. One Florida retailer charged based on his state sales tax. And Amazon, the largest online retailer, according to the Los Angeles Times, charges sales tax only for five states. Louisiana is not one of them.
Bruce said the problem is that enforcement on these taxes is “basically nil.” He mentioned that Louisiana and other states put a line on the income tax form where citizens may voluntarily list purchases where they paid no sales tax.
According to The Advocate, the Marketplace Fairness Act making its way through both the U.S. House and Senate would give states more autonomy in pursuing sales tax collections on out-of-state businesses, more specifically on Internet companies. A similar measure was proposed in the Louisiana Legislature this year but failed, The Advocate reports:
State Rep. Rosalind Jones, D-Monroe, attempted to get at taxes through affiliates’ Louisiana addresses by authoring legislation earlier this year that would have expanded the definition of merchants responsible for collecting Louisiana’s sales and use tax. Jones’ House Bill 641 would have included in that definition Internet companies with a physical presence in the state or who work through an independent contractor in the state.
[Gov. Bobby] Jindal opposed the legislation, which failed to clear the state Senate.
Jindal said he consistently opposes burdening Louisiana families with additional taxes.
JUNE 19 Former Saint Steve Gleason, who is paralyzed by ALS, released a statement Tuesday in response to the Atlanta radio station's skit making fun of him and the disease, this Picayune post reports. What did he say? He said he'd accepted the apology of the DJs who did it, notes that at least the incident has got people talking about ALS, and asks anyone who is burning to take action about it to do so -- by helping him fight ALS.
JUNE 19 Blogger Ian McGibboney takes a look at the Gleason incident in this post. He makes a good argument about the difference between having free speech and being free from consequences for your speech (which none of us is). He also admits that many of us got upset before we listened to the skit -- but lets us know that the reality is far worse than we can imagine. It was the incredibly bad judgment, even more than the actual speech, that probably got those DJs fired, he opines.
JUNE 19 Washington Post blogger Aaron Blake writes about Sen. Guillory's switch to the GOP in this post. He writes what most political watchers in Louisiana know: Guillory was a Republican before he decided to run for the senate seat in a mostly-D St. Landry district, and has switched back now that he plans to run for Lt. Gov. in a mostly-R state. But how come Blake missed Guillory's appearance on a TLC pageant show? Now that is a video we'd like to see. (Again).
JUNE 19 Here's another Washington Post blog post about a Louisiana politician, and it's just plain scathing. Ezra Klein says Jindal's Politico post was "insulting" to the intelligence of voters, and adds that Jindal is personifying the "stupid" he's railed against, by being an "elite" who convinces GOP activists of "things that aren't true." Me-ow.
JUNE 19 Here's Gov. Jindal's post in Politico, in which he asks the GOP to get over losing to Obama (again) and stop "the bedwetting." (Uh, what?) He gives his Republican buddies what is probably a nerd's idea of a coach's motivational talk, which starts with a list of accomplishments that they can't seem to exploit and ending with an absurd description of liberals that sounds like a character treatment for a Fox "News" movie scripted by Gordon Liddy. Sure, he's preaching to the choir, but even the choir's not this gullible.
JUNE 19 Lamar Parmentel read Gov. Jindal's post on Politico, but thinks it was so dumb it probably was published in the wrong paper. This post by Lamar on the Daily Kingfish opines that possibly Jindal's post was destined for the Onion -- because the governor couldn't possibly be serious here. If you listen closely, you can hear the staff of the Kingfish giggling.
JUNE 19 Blogger Robert Mann posts from Turkey, a country he has visited several times in the past few years. Mann gives an interesting overview of the current political and societal climate of the country, which -- if you're living under a rock and don't know -- is experiencing protests and turmoil these days. Mann promises to post as much as he can during his trip, which should be fascinating reading.
JUNE 19 Blogger CB Forgotston says the legislature is keeping the vicious cycle going with its funding of new buildings for the community college/technical college system. Universities across the state need maintenance and improvement on existing buildings, and the solution is to build new buildings at other schools? By the time the bonds are paid off, those buildings will be falling down, too, CB says.
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