To all: I don’t know how it is in other states, but sales tax in New York is divided between a flat state sales tax (4%) and county sales taxes that vary (most are around 4%; my county is 4.75%). The 18% sales tax proposed for soda is just the STATE sales tax. The total that people in NY will pay in sales tax on soda is closer to 22-23%, depending where they live.

Picking and choosing what to tax DEFINITELY is discriminatory. I don’t think Paterson has even tried to address that claim. Maybe he thinks it’s okay because it’s “good” discrimination….?

It’s hard to get worked up over taxes on garbage like coke or cigars, it’s the same as taxes on cigarettes in my mind. I don’t drink coke, but am a beer drinker and have no issue with the extra taxes on booze.

This isn’t a Canada vs. USA post; I have just always wondered why most Americans are so against taxes. Anyone who chips in with friends to buy a pizza knows that you can get a better result when multiple people contribute dollars. As long as the political system isn’t too corrupt (and it takes an educated populous to ensure this), then I think taxes are beneficial. It is when taxes start being cut that you should wonder what services will be taken away from you.

I live in MEmphis and pay 9.5% sales tax. I could drive 10 mins to Arkansas and pay 6% or 15 mins to Mississippi and pay 5.5%. But I don’t. It isn’t worth my time and gas money. Sure if you are in NJ for other reasons you might stop or if you have a large family you might shop over there. But most people won’t.

I don’t think they have to worry about overcoming the budget crisis. By raising taxes this way they are about to guarantee a permanent budget crisis. Additionally, as people refuse to buy newly taxed items, demand goes down, prices go down, layoffs occur, etc. Just glad I don’t live in NY.

The way it works currently is that if a company sells anything to a consumer who is in the same state in which the item is “delivered” from, the seller is required to collect sales tax based on that particular locale’s rates. There is also a law, at least in Florida that any purchase made across state lines is supposed to be reported to the Department of Revenue and the state sales tax is to be paid on those purchases. Of course, no one to my knowledge follows that particular law, but it has been enforced upon audits in certain instances where proof was found by state agencies over the years.

By no means do I think that it is an easy thing to implement, but one way is a flat sales tax across the nation, so that it would not matter who made the purchase, what their state of residence is, or where the purchase was made, it would be the same tax rate across the board. This would certainly save many needed state-sponsored programs, such as public services, schooling, and after-school programs. And, it would avoid any confusion that you have eluded to.

It’s unreasonable to expect every Internet vendor (most are Mom and Pop shops, not Amazon) to compile and maintain a list of state and local sales taxes across the US. Let’s say a guy on a business trip/vacation buys an e-book online. Not only do we have the seller’s home location and buyer’s home location, but potentally the ‘place of sale’, and would the location of the seller’s web server come into play? Sometimes they are located in a completely different state.

I’m sure governments don’t want to lose the tax revenue, but I sure don’t know how they plan to keep track of all that.