@Collin1000 I'm not familiar with the law, either. I thought it had to be a physical operations presence, like a store or warehouse, but I suppose I'm not surprised that's not the case.
edit @daveinsocal no idea! maybe it's someone who works from home doing CS or moderation? @mehcus 's post didn't elaborate.
@meh So go on a mission to buy all the meh t-shirts they have made so far and swipe them from people who have ones you don't have (likely they won't sell so you'd have to be nefarious to get them). Then cut them all up and make a quilt.
@meh My baby nephew LOVES the one with all the faces! lol I watch him all through the week, so I try to wear it at least every couple weeks, 'cause he really studies it every time :)
Next time the whole "California has an unfair advantage" topic comes up, at least I'll be able to retort back that everything CA buys costs 7.5% more than it does for most other people.... and next month when I move it'll cost 10% more :'(
@Collin1000 I just looked at the tax chart; I didn't know 6 more cities have gone up to 10%. Before, it was just Pico Rivera and Southgate which were up there.
I'll be honest - it doesn't bother me that much. Even before Amazon set up here in California, I ordered a fair amount from Newegg and Monoprice.
@meh - I really don't want to bring this up, but there are already at least two employees in Seattle (Three if you count Irk, then there's Glen, and . . . ).
@meh Sounds like a move down here to Portland is in order. It's a lot like Seattle except generally better in every way! (This is a completely objective view, no Native Portlander bias at all)
The rules for determining presence for a corporation for the purpose of sales tax now take into account multiple factors. It's no longer just where your office is, or where you keep your books and have your board meetings. A single employee counts as a factor towards presence in that state.
And where a state can make an argument for presence, and there's millions of bucks on the line, they're going to make that argument.
@xEBRONx .. Quit the personal blame game.. Had Mittens taken office it would have come into effect even earlier.. Congress has been working on this ever since they realized the internet was another cash cow and by finagling, cutting freedoms and squeezing along gray areas they finally came up with something that would take generations to reverse if someone dared to challenge the constitutionality of it (of which taxation isn't noted) but go ahead, blame Obama.. who you gonna blame as it becomes a national pastime? Surely no future president will amend it (except maybe Bernie).
@unkabob Of course he's going to get blamed, he's the President? I'd be blaming whoever was in office because, well, he's in charge. People still bring up stuff or blame things on past presidents, don't take it so personally.
@mehbee .. No one should be the scape goat for our own inadequacies..We're the ones who allow these money grubbers to tax us for all we're worth and I'm not taking anything personally but those who choose to point the blame on others certainly do.
Also it's not that they don't charge tax, it's that they don't collect tax. You're supposed to pay it buy claiming it on your taxes, not that anybody be does that so that's why they come up with new ways to get the tax money "they deserve".
@Chops The honor system has been in place for many years already. If you look on your tax return forms, there's a line for use tax that folks are to enter how much untaxed purchases they made.
Now ask - how many folks voluntarily entered anything so they pay more in taxes?
I paid it last year. It's a flat rate based on your AGI. Much easier than saving receipts and tracking which purchases are taxable, which need to pay use tax, which rate, which sellers, bla bla bla
@Veloslave... When I was in Utah there was only the original price then I moved to Texas and experienced shell shock when taxes developed.. Now, it's penance but still gives me a foul taste in my mouth when they state $8.00 and then reveal $8.66 at the end. It's like those stinking dollar stores.. If they said $1.08 stores it wouldn't be quite as infuriating. Because of it I've cut down on my buying habits (not meh's fault).
Yup... makes you reevaluate every purchase. I carefully shop for everything and now I need to play the add 8% game to Meh...
I have spent around $510.00 so no I am looking at another $40 going bye bye. For a cheap bastard like me that is too much to ignore. It's not like Meh doesn't still have rocking deals that still cover some, most or even all of the taxes...
@Veloslave .. Well you're right on the rocking deals but it would be 8% (and in some places up to 10%) more rocking if they didn't add taxes to it. It's not that I'm a tax hater but look around, can you find anything that isn't consumer taxed? In goods as well as work related.. even birth and death is taxed! And if you sold anything you bought and paid tax on earlier, guess what? IT'S TAXED!! So Bull Shit is an understatement. This was part of the reason we had that tea party many generations ago.. Guess it's time we should prepare to brew another one.
Looks like I picked a great time to leave commiefornia! But anyone who works for a living, and has half a brain should be doing the same thing anyway. Who's gonna pay for all the "free stuffers" if no one with a job lives there?
@Thumperchick Definitely. I know certain umm... for lack of a better term I'm gonna call them "people", with whom the biggest reason I can't stand them is because of where they're situated.
(If that doesn't sound logical, I'd love to explain my logic, but among the numerous things I don't discuss, besides which day is the most depressing day of the year for me, is my logic, because it involves discussing how my brain works, and unless you have 27 - 43 1/2 free continuous hours, it's not worth discussing)
It would probably have to wait a little while though. I already made an impulse buy in the last couple of weeks. Hehe.
First i was thinking about buying for myself either the complete Twilight Zone, X Files, or Star Trek: TNG, but while i find The Twilight Zone EXTREMELY hilarious... However, once the Animaniacs stuff started...
@narfcake awww man, major nostalgia there! I still remember hanging out in a.t.a back in the day when the pppgalf episode hit. absolutely awesome how they took direct quotes from the group for that one.
@mhuckstepp they did - just not in this thread. I quoted and linked it below. The gist is this - meh/mediocre hired someone in CA. CA's rules now state that an employee based in CA counts as enough of a business presence to require meh/mediocre to collect CA sales tax.
@Thumperchick Cant we just pretend this new hire doesn't exist? or make her disappear? Somebodies gotta have some ideas to save all the Mediocre People in California 10% on every purchase.
Q: Is my purchase taxable? A: If you’re shipping to Texas or California, we’ll add the sales tax to your order. Most other states say you’re supposed to report and pay tax on out-of-state purchases. Whether you do that or not is your problem.
@Thumperchick - Therefore, all of the S Koreans and other international customers should start using a reshipper in New York where meh doesn't collect tax yet, or that one in Delaware where there is no sales tax?
@KDemo I was thinking that, actually. I wonder if the addition of CA sales tax will be enough of a deterrent to impact the reshippers in CA. Or, if the east coast based ones weren't worth it - could the CA sales tax be enough to dry up the SK customer base? Is this another e-commerce experiment, within the experiment? Since meh was codename Pavlov... what would alienating a surprise customer base on meh be called?
My final VMP payment was 5.48 this month so the rate must be 9.6%. It's slightly more than a fricken Costco membership now! If its all true, then one hire is going to cost nearly 10% more on every purchase, and VMP payment from all customers in California from now on.
Alright seems that there have been enough requests for this that I'll go ahead and give the full explanation. As has been mentioned above, we hired someone from California. She will be working remotely out of Santa Monica and helping us to develop a new channel to sell our products.
California is an origin based state for Sales Tax (much like Texas is). This means that the tax we are collecting is based on the location of our business in that state. Our "Business Location" is based in Santa Monica which has a 9.5% tax rate.
Happy to (try to) answer any questions folks may have over this but basically it boils down to legal stuff that we're required to do.
As of right now though, she's neither a robot with ears which shoot lasers, or a different kind of robot (possibly one which shoots lasers from somewhere else), or a human/other kind of thing, until we have proof for proper identification as so category.
"California is an origin based state for Sales Tax" Really? I only ask because on Amazon, if I ship something to my work, which is in another county, I am charged a different tax rate than if I ship it to my house.
@Thumperchick tldr; 49 states fall into one way or the other. They either charge sales tax based on where it is coming from, or where it is going to. The end.
And then..... California. California does..... both.
The website sums it up nicely with this line: "most states are either origin-based or destination-based sales tax states, but California is a hybrid of both. If you only have one location in California, then you’ll charge two sales tax rates. You’ll charge your district rate to buyers located in your district, and the California state rate (7.5%) to sellers outside your district."
My reading of that is people in the same district as Santa Monica must pay Santa Monica district sales tax at 9.5%. People outside that district but still in CA only pay state sales tax at 7.5%.
What's wrong with taxes? I like food inspectors, roads, bridges, law enforcement, libraries, schools, playgrounds, sidewalks, parks, the Postal Service, streetlights, business regulations, scientific research, etc, etc, etc . . .
I think the point being made in this thread was that it just randomly started (from the perspective of consumers). Of course, it is because of the presence of Meh in California, but since people weren't told in advance of this plan, it just seemed unexpected.
Food inspectors - that might be federal and not state so sales tax doesn't apply. There are states that do not collect any sales tax and their food is just as safe as states that do collect sales tax.
3 states do not collect sales tax: New Hampshire, Delaware, Oregon. Alaska and Montana technically don't have sales tax but they do charge a "local option" tax.
Roads and bridges - depending on the road, some is paid for by federal money and some by local taxes. Most is paid for by gas taxes, income tax, property taxes, and the balance from sales tax. Again, states without sales tax have roads too so it isn't necessary to pay for roads.
Law enforcement, libraries, schools, playgrounds, parks - All paid for by property taxes. I see that broken down line item by line item on my tax bill and each has their own millage rates and even includes the fire department.
Streetlights - That is paid for by the residents or businesses where the street light is installed. Looking closely at your electric bill, you can see a rate code. That rate code is higher if you have a street light in your 'hood.
Business regulations - Federal government unless it's separate regulations created at a state level. Not sure who pays for that but I'm sure states that do not collect sales taxes also have business regulations.
Scientific research - Federal, private donations, and the company doing the research. Research is very expensive and this is why patents are granted to give the company that paid for all that research the exclusive right to benefit from it (theoretically).
Postal Service - self sustaining. They charge the senders of the mail money to deliver packages and mail. They are profitable and would even make more profit if Congress didn't have control over them. They have made many requests to change the way they do business to increase their profits or decrease their losses only to be declined by congress. One proposal is to get rid of Saturday deliveries, for example. If they want to raise the postage rates, that needs approval from Congress.
@MEHcus I think we should listen to this guy.....by the way i don't mind the idea of taxes and what they pay for....I just don't like being the one paying them.
I saw a staffer post on another thread that it is because they hired someone in CA, so by law they need to charge tax there now.
Fire that person! sarcasm
I know the law here requires a nexus in the state. Was not aware that an employee counted as a nexus.
@meh what the heck? If meh is hiring Californians I'm absolutely interested!
@Collin1000 I'm not familiar with the law, either. I thought it had to be a physical operations presence, like a store or warehouse, but I suppose I'm not surprised that's not the case.
edit @daveinsocal no idea! maybe it's someone who works from home doing CS or moderation? @mehcus 's post didn't elaborate.
@meh Booooooo!
@meh I had the same understanding of the law. I am not a lawyer nor a business person so I will happily pay the tax if Meh says I need to.
@meh I'd make a great buyer!
@meh Maybe Meh hired @narfcake? We really could use a better shirt than that one of Irk. It is pretty ugly.
@Barney lol it's not as bad as the grey one with all the faces on it, though. i don't think i've worn that in public.
@Barney Yeah I would agree with you there. 10 hundreds stars.
@meh So go on a mission to buy all the meh t-shirts they have made so far and swipe them from people who have ones you don't have (likely they won't sell so you'd have to be nefarious to get them). Then cut them all up and make a quilt.
@Barney Nope. And even if I was hired for shirt work, I'd take the compensation in a non-taxable form. Like catshirts.
@DaveInSoCal step in line ! Jk, Let's start wal 2.0
@narfcake But, in this scenario, aren't you making the catshirts? Oh, shit, mind, here it comes… *BLOWN*
@brhfl No, I wouldn't be. My drawing skills are in CAD, not cat.
@meh My baby nephew LOVES the one with all the faces! lol I watch him all through the week, so I try to wear it at least every couple weeks, 'cause he really studies it every time :)
Two words that go together.
now is the perfect time to contemplate a move..
Next time the whole "California has an unfair advantage" topic comes up, at least I'll be able to retort back that everything CA buys costs 7.5% more than it does for most other people.... and next month when I move it'll cost 10% more :'(
I hope they don't find someone here in Seattle or I'll be on the hook for 9.6%, too.
@Collin1000 I just looked at the tax chart; I didn't know 6 more cities have gone up to 10%. Before, it was just Pico Rivera and Southgate which were up there.
I'll be honest - it doesn't bother me that much. Even before Amazon set up here in California, I ordered a fair amount from Newegg and Monoprice.
@meh - I really don't want to bring this up, but there are already at least two employees in Seattle (Three if you count Irk, then there's Glen, and . . . ).
@KDemo figures.
@meh Sounds like a move down here to Portland is in order. It's a lot like Seattle except generally better in every way! (This is a completely objective view, no Native Portlander bias at all)
@Saffer49 show me the job market!
@Saffer49 - True, Oregon has no sales tax. Sales tax is high in Washington, but we pay no state income tax.
The rules for determining presence for a corporation for the purpose of sales tax now take into account multiple factors. It's no longer just where your office is, or where you keep your books and have your board meetings. A single employee counts as a factor towards presence in that state.
And where a state can make an argument for presence, and there's millions of bucks on the line, they're going to make that argument.
lol omg that's the reason why?
thanks obama
@xEBRONx .. Quit the personal blame game.. Had Mittens taken office it would have come into effect even earlier.. Congress has been working on this ever since they realized the internet was another cash cow and by finagling, cutting freedoms and squeezing along gray areas they finally came up with something that would take generations to reverse if someone dared to challenge the constitutionality of it (of which taxation isn't noted) but go ahead, blame Obama.. who you gonna blame as it becomes a national pastime? Surely no future president will amend it (except maybe Bernie).
@xEBRONx Yeah. Thanks Obama.
@unkabob Feel the Bern!!!! He pees, too!!!
@unkabob Of course he's going to get blamed, he's the President? I'd be blaming whoever was in office because, well, he's in charge. People still bring up stuff or blame things on past presidents, don't take it so personally.
@mehbee .. No one should be the scape goat for our own inadequacies..We're the ones who allow these money grubbers to tax us for all we're worth and I'm not taking anything personally but those who choose to point the blame on others certainly do.
Also it's not that they don't charge tax, it's that they don't collect tax. You're supposed to pay it buy claiming it on your taxes, not that anybody be does that so that's why they come up with new ways to get the tax money "they deserve".
@StrangerDanger We need to just put the honor system in place accross the board for sales tax.
It's a sad day when our own government can't trust it's citizens to pay additional monies for things they've already purchased.
A sad day indeed..
@Chops The honor system has been in place for many years already. If you look on your tax return forms, there's a line for use tax that folks are to enter how much untaxed purchases they made.
Now ask - how many folks voluntarily entered anything so they pay more in taxes?
@narfcake One of my neighboring states — I want to say VA? — supposeduly just automatically audits you these days if you slap a zero on that line.
@narfcake I do
@StrangerDanger @Chops @Narfcake California's Use Tax system is very simple and easy to use, actually: https://www.boe.ca.gov/info/use_tax_table.html
I paid it last year. It's a flat rate based on your AGI. Much easier than saving receipts and tracking which purchases are taxable, which need to pay use tax, which rate, which sellers, bla bla bla
@Collin1000 TIL California calls their tax department the Board of Equalization. This confirms many of the beliefs I already held.
@narfcake lol i think @chops was being facetious...
@meh pfft, @chops being facetious? Never.
This is some bullshit...
I would have liked some clear notice, no wait, even better... I would have prefered this NEVER HAPPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!
THIS IS BULLSHIT
@Veloslave... When I was in Utah there was only the original price then I moved to Texas and experienced shell shock when taxes developed.. Now, it's penance but still gives me a foul taste in my mouth when they state $8.00 and then reveal $8.66 at the end. It's like those stinking dollar stores.. If they said $1.08 stores it wouldn't be quite as infuriating. Because of it I've cut down on my buying habits (not meh's fault).
@unkabob
Yup... makes you reevaluate every purchase. I carefully shop for everything and now I need to play the add 8% game to Meh...
I have spent around $510.00 so no I am looking at another $40 going bye bye. For a cheap bastard like me that is too much to ignore. It's not like Meh doesn't still have rocking deals that still cover some, most or even all of the taxes...
I think I said it perfectly the first time.
THIS IS BULLSHIT
@Veloslave .. Well you're right on the rocking deals but it would be 8% (and in some places up to 10%) more rocking if they didn't add taxes to it. It's not that I'm a tax hater but look around, can you find anything that isn't consumer taxed? In goods as well as work related.. even birth and death is taxed! And if you sold anything you bought and paid tax on earlier, guess what? IT'S TAXED!! So Bull Shit is an understatement. This was part of the reason we had that tea party many generations ago.. Guess it's time we should prepare to brew another one.
Looks like I picked a great time to leave commiefornia! But anyone who works for a living, and has half a brain should be doing the same thing anyway. Who's gonna pay for all the "free stuffers" if no one with a job lives there?
sounds to me like California sucks
@Lotsofgoats We get to see what's up for sale 3 hours ahead of the east coast. :P
@narfcake sounds awful
@Lotsofgoats @narfcake
Before this turns into East vs West, I'll settle it once and for all.
East wins because that's where I'm situated. Then again, i guess some could claim that that's exactly why the West wins. Hmmm... Carry on.
@FroodyFrog either way, we can all agree it beats the hell out of central, right?
@Thumperchick Definitely. I know certain umm... for lack of a better term I'm gonna call them "people", with whom the biggest reason I can't stand them is because of where they're situated.
(If that doesn't sound logical, I'd love to explain my logic, but among the numerous things I don't discuss, besides which day is the most depressing day of the year for me, is my logic, because it involves discussing how my brain works, and unless you have 27 - 43 1/2 free continuous hours, it's not worth discussing)
@FroodyFrog We must tread lightly, lest our TX based overlords notice what we're talking about.
@FroodyFrog @Thumperchick
@Thumperchick Got nothing to worry about. TX is generally considered S/SW
@narfcake
Loved the Animaniacs when I was a young warthog. (Err... I mean tadpole...)
Correction: I still do.
For those who don't get the reference, it's part of this video:
youtube.com/watch?v=wev2wfrd178 (too lazy to fix it)
@FroodyFrog I learned more from Animaniacs than I did at college the first time around. :)
@narfcake
That makes perfect sense. How do you think I learned the countries, state capitals, presidents, and several other things? ;)
@FroodyFrog Useless fact: The Presidents song was revised after the album version was nitpicked on alt.tv.animaniacs.
(Then again, what wasn't nitpicked on a.t.a.?! The Please Please Please Get A Life Foundation existed for a reason!)
@narfcake
Google Now has decided to send me this article due to my amount of searches for Animaniacs:
http://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?id=30629
@FroodyFrog I feel bad that I only knew about 3/4th of the info. I'M NOT NERDY ENOUGH!
(Then again, the license plate hanging on my wall isn't Animaniacs related either.)
@narfcake
I'm now contemplating buying the 4 volume DVD set as a gift for myself.
(it's great clean humor with an extremely generous topping of education)
@FroodyFrog Do it!
@narfcake
It would probably have to wait a little while though. I already made an impulse buy in the last couple of weeks. Hehe.
First i was thinking about buying for myself either the complete Twilight Zone, X Files, or Star Trek: TNG, but while i find The Twilight Zone EXTREMELY hilarious...
However, once the Animaniacs stuff started...
@narfcake
No you don't silly! We see what's up for sale at the exact same time as you do. Our clocks just have the hands in different places! :)
Blockquote
@narfcake awww man, major nostalgia there! I still remember hanging out in a.t.a back in the day when the pppgalf episode hit. absolutely awesome how they took direct quotes from the group for that one.
@FroodyFrog do it! (and don't forget the Pinky and the Brain sets too, while you're at it)
edit: and just now realized I replied to a nearly month-old post. but still... do it!
@Turken
Thank you actually for posting that. I was looking for my post, but couldn't remember which thread it was in.
@Turken @narfcake
$61 for brand new complete DVD set of Animaniacs. I have $33.66 eBay Bucks, so I'd only pay $27.34.
Really tempted, but I am tempted to use the eBay Bucks on some cool t-shirts which I possibly wouldn't otherwise buy.
It's mid-January, but I refuse to wear long sleeved shirts. Partially because that's what THEY want.
@FroodyFrog What, catshirtswoot doesn't cover all your t-shirt needs? Get the Animaniacs set.
@narfcake
Sadly not all of them.
http://m.imgur.com/a/jV9rf
Can a Meh employee hook us up with an explanation here? pretty please
@mhuckstepp they did - just not in this thread. I quoted and linked it below.
The gist is this - meh/mediocre hired someone in CA. CA's rules now state that an employee based in CA counts as enough of a business presence to require meh/mediocre to collect CA sales tax.
@Thumperchick Cant we just pretend this new hire doesn't exist? or make her disappear? Somebodies gotta have some ideas to save all the Mediocre People in California 10% on every purchase.
@smellyman Definitely! Contact your government representatives about the high sales tax rates plus income taxes in your state.
@Thumperchick or we could go full Bundy?
@smellyman Which Bundy? Al? Ted? Ammon? Cliven?
I don't know that I recommend any of their methods...
From the FAQ
Here's why! Stated by @MEHcus:
@Thumperchick - Therefore, all of the S Koreans and other international customers should start using a reshipper in New York where meh doesn't collect tax yet, or that one in Delaware where there is no sales tax?
@KDemo I was thinking that, actually. I wonder if the addition of CA sales tax will be enough of a deterrent to impact the reshippers in CA. Or, if the east coast based ones weren't worth it - could the CA sales tax be enough to dry up the SK customer base?
Is this another e-commerce experiment, within the experiment? Since meh was codename Pavlov... what would alienating a surprise customer base on meh be called?
@Thumperchick - lol Umm - Operation Daleks? (for alienating aliens)
@KDemo
Daleks are just misunderstood.
@KDemo I was thinking Codename Schrodinger.
My final VMP payment was 5.48 this month so the rate must be 9.6%. It's slightly more than a fricken Costco membership now! If its all true, then one hire is going to cost nearly 10% more on every purchase, and VMP payment from all customers in California from now on.
@crapstick I think the 9.6% is specific to your city. Most of CA isn't that high... yet.
@Thumperchick If its sales tax. Mine is 8%.
@crapstick Weird. I wonder if there's a computing issue on sales tax for CA? (@shawn) Or if there's something else going on.
@crapstick Even at $5/month, it's more expensive than a Costco membership ($55/year).
@crapstick I should ask Meh about this because none of my other memberships like Shoprunner or Amazon Prime are taxed....
@narfcake Doh! I though it was $65.
@crapstick check out @MEHcus' comment below for the explanation of the 9.5% rate.
Alright seems that there have been enough requests for this that I'll go ahead and give the full explanation. As has been mentioned above, we hired someone from California. She will be working remotely out of Santa Monica and helping us to develop a new channel to sell our products.
California is an origin based state for Sales Tax (much like Texas is). This means that the tax we are collecting is based on the location of our business in that state. Our "Business Location" is based in Santa Monica which has a 9.5% tax rate.
Happy to (try to) answer any questions folks may have over this but basically it boils down to legal stuff that we're required to do.
@MEHcus
Great story, just wish that it had something to do with robot zombies with the ability to shoot lasers from their ears.
@FroodyFrog Who said she wasn't a robot zombie with the ability to shoot lasers from her ears?
@MEHcus
True.
As of right now though, she's neither a robot with ears which shoot lasers, or a different kind of robot (possibly one which shoots lasers from somewhere else), or a human/other kind of thing, until we have proof for proper identification as so category.
@MEHcus Let's hire me then start a Santa Monica office with two people!! Yay.
@MEHcus Hire me also. I'm in San Diego and will save everyone 1.5%.
@DaveInSoCal Yeah but then we'd have to deal with you every day.
@MEHcus
You're nicer than "THEY" say. Hmmm... I may have to rethink my strategy.
@MEHcus
FTFY
Also, I'm awesome to work with and I can make balloon animals.
@DaveInSoCal
Ok, I want a purple elephant, a daffy duck, a stick, and a hat of some kind.
I expect to receive them in perfect condition by next week.
@FroodyFrog I don't work with you. Wait. Hang on....
Nope! Checked the office. A lot of confused people wanting to know why I was yelling for FroodyFrog, but no one claiming the title.
@MEHcus This is good and helps me to buy less from meh.com.
@lfclai you misspelled 'more'
@MEHcus 9.5% more, from @lfclai's perspective!
@MEHcus
"California is an origin based state for Sales Tax"
Really? I only ask because on Amazon, if I ship something to my work, which is in another county, I am charged a different tax rate than if I ship it to my house.
People smarter than me should read this: http://www.taxjar.com/states/california-sales-tax-online/ --- starting at the "How to collect sales tax in California" part.
@Collin1000 I wonder if there's a nuance for places with more than 1 CA location? Amazon surely has more than 1 distribution center in CA.
@Thumperchick there's no place like drone
@Thumperchick There is. See the link I posted. Tax laws are confusing :(
@Collin1000 Do I have to read it? I don't wanna.
@Thumperchick tldr;
49 states fall into one way or the other. They either charge sales tax based on where it is coming from, or where it is going to. The end.
And then..... California. California does..... both.
The website sums it up nicely with this line: "most states are either origin-based or destination-based sales tax states, but California is a hybrid of both. If you only have one location in California, then you’ll charge two sales tax rates. You’ll charge your district rate to buyers located in your district, and the California state rate (7.5%) to sellers outside your district."
My reading of that is people in the same district as Santa Monica must pay Santa Monica district sales tax at 9.5%. People outside that district but still in CA only pay state sales tax at 7.5%.
@Collin1000 see, that means that the way meh's doing it is wrong? I'm not a tax lawyer though so...
@Thumperchick and neither am I which is why we did exactly what the tax lawyer told us to do. So we'll take that dudes word over the article for now.
:( Good bye VMP, sad to see you go.
PS: I ordered something recently so I won't be refunded my $5, that's fine...but am I now paying tax on the item I ordered -and- on the $5 shipping?
@Ignorant you better not wear that new stealth VMP shirt you just got.
@Ignorant I'll buy it from you! :)
@narfcake haha no I'll wear it like crazy, I don't care if I'm a poser.
I'd have to charge you tax anyway.
@Ignorant
Give it to me (and not to @narfcake), and I'll give you a unique picture of a shoelace.
@Ignorant $1.10? Done! That's still cheaper than the LA County Goodwill stores, and way cheaper than the OC stores.
@Ignorant here in NY shipping is taxed, too. It sucks. (Not on meh, because no presense in NY yet, but most places.)
What's wrong with taxes? I like food inspectors, roads, bridges, law enforcement, libraries, schools, playgrounds, sidewalks, parks, the Postal Service, streetlights, business regulations, scientific research, etc, etc, etc . . .
@cercopithecoid
Eh. I appreciate most of those things.
I think the point being made in this thread was that it just randomly started (from the perspective of consumers).
Of course, it is because of the presence of Meh in California, but since people weren't told in advance of this plan, it just seemed unexpected.
@cercopithecoid all overrated.
@cercopithecoid Let's go through your list:
Food inspectors - that might be federal and not state so sales tax doesn't apply. There are states that do not collect any sales tax and their food is just as safe as states that do collect sales tax.
3 states do not collect sales tax: New Hampshire, Delaware, Oregon. Alaska and Montana technically don't have sales tax but they do charge a "local option" tax.
Roads and bridges - depending on the road, some is paid for by federal money and some by local taxes. Most is paid for by gas taxes, income tax, property taxes, and the balance from sales tax. Again, states without sales tax have roads too so it isn't necessary to pay for roads.
Law enforcement, libraries, schools, playgrounds, parks - All paid for by property taxes. I see that broken down line item by line item on my tax bill and each has their own millage rates and even includes the fire department.
Streetlights - That is paid for by the residents or businesses where the street light is installed. Looking closely at your electric bill, you can see a rate code. That rate code is higher if you have a street light in your 'hood.
Business regulations - Federal government unless it's separate regulations created at a state level. Not sure who pays for that but I'm sure states that do not collect sales taxes also have business regulations.
Scientific research - Federal, private donations, and the company doing the research. Research is very expensive and this is why patents are granted to give the company that paid for all that research the exclusive right to benefit from it (theoretically).
Postal Service - self sustaining. They charge the senders of the mail money to deliver packages and mail. They are profitable and would even make more profit if Congress didn't have control over them. They have made many requests to change the way they do business to increase their profits or decrease their losses only to be declined by congress. One proposal is to get rid of Saturday deliveries, for example. If they want to raise the postage rates, that needs approval from Congress.
TL;DR @cengland0 typed a bunch of things
@MEHcus I think we should listen to this guy.....by the way i don't mind the idea of taxes and what they pay for....I just don't like being the one paying them.
@cercopithecoid
Relevant:
@katylava
Would you like a bulk size package of tissues?
I should not be nearly as depressed about this as I am...