The Internet Tax Debate: What e-Tailers Think
On February 1, five big retailers took it upon themselves to begin collecting sales tax for online sales. The current moratorium on Net taxes expires in November, and states are working overtime to figure out a system for collecting sales tax online. So what are the little guys like you doing to prepare for the conclusion of the e-tax debate? We've asked four e-tailers for their opinions.
Maheesh Jain,
CafePress.com
CafePress.com allows individuals and groups to sell
branded items online by taking care of all aspects of production,
including online storefront development and management, product
manufacturing and sourcing, fulfillment and customer service. Jain
is a founder of the San Leandro, California, company and its vice
president of sales and marketing.
"If the government is going to impose Internet sales taxes on us and others like us, we surely could use some major help implementing it." |
What do you think of Internet taxes? Do you think it's
just an inevitability, or unfair for e-tailers?
Maheesh Jain: I think it will mostly likely be an
inevitability. Since CafePress.com doesn't resell commodity
goods that our customers can purchase in an offline channel, our
main concern is not whether our customers will be required to pay
sales tax, but instead the administration required to compute and
distribute sales tax monies to the various tax jurisdictions. The
cost of calculating and sending checks to 50 states is much lower
than sending checks to over 1,000 municipalities. So opening up
sales tax with the current system in place would be disastrous to
online commerce.
Do you think charging tax will negatively affect your
business? How so?
Jain: We would obviously prefer not to charge sales tax so
the overall cost of our products would be lower. However, since we
don't sell commodity goods on a competitive price basis (i.e.
reselling a pair a shoes online cheaper than what you can buy at
the mall), we don't feel charging sales tax will have a huge
effect on our business.
Any other comments?
Jain: For many specialty retailers online (such as us), the
real concern is the administration of the taxation system. If the
localities and states can agree on a standardized system that
businesses can easily comply with, then we're not so worried.
But if the states were to require online businesses to pay sales
taxes based on the current localized tax systems, compliance would
be close to impossible--and the system would make the personal tax
code look like a piece of cake in comparison.
Karen Booth Adams,
PoshTots
Adams is a co-founder of the Glen Allen, Virginia-based PoshTots, an online
seller of high-end children's products, including furniture and
playhouses. Read more about PoshTots here.
As an online retailer, do you keep up with the Internet tax
debate?
Karen Booth Adams: We do keep up with the Internet tax
debate, as we are solely an online retailer. We currently only
collect sales tax in Virginia, the state where we're located.
Since the moratorium is set to expire in November and Virginia is
one of the 32 states participating in the Streamlined
Sales Tax Project, we've been discussing [the] changes and
revisions [we'd] have to make to our Web site if and when new
sales tax laws are implemented.
Do you think e-taxes are an inevitability, or are they unfair
for e-tailers?
Booth Adams: While I do think that Internet taxes are
inevitable, as e-tailers generate a huge tax base which state and
local governments are currently missing out on, I do believe that
there is an unfairness to the tax. Currently, many smaller
brick-and-mortar stores with only one or two locations only collect
sales tax in one state, [but] many smaller to midsized online
retailers such as Posh Tots have a customer base which includes the
entire United States. Under the current sales tax system, we would
have to make provisions to collect sales tax in all 50 states. My
hope is that when Internet taxation legislation is eventually
passed, it will follow the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, which
should allow us to levy a pre-set tax rate for each item regardless
of the state where the item is being shipped. I would also like to
be able to file all taxes centrally. Collecting and filing
individual rates and returns to each state would require major
modifications to our Web site as well as our accounting system.
Do you think charging tax will negatively affect your
business? How so?
Booth Adams: I don't believe that charging sales tax
will negatively affect our business. While it may cause some
customers to balk, our clientele is used to paying sales tax at
their local retailers. If there is any negative impact, it will be
because of the rates levied on the items which we sell. If the
rates proposed through the Streamlined Sales Tax Project are higher
than current individual state sales tax rates, both Internet and
brick-and-mortar retailers will initially feel the pinch.
J.S. Fletcher and Kathy M. Newbern,
yournovel.com
Fletcher and Newbern, who married two years after starting their
Raleigh, North Carolina, business, yournovel.com, have
customers fill out a simple questionnaire on their site. They use
the information to personalize a romance book, which is shipped to
buyers within days. Read more about yournovel.com here.
As an online retailer, do you keep up with the Internet tax
debate?
J.S. Fletcher: Yournovel.com became an Internet business in
1996, and we've concentrated on improving our service and
product since that time. In our state, North Carolina, we have to
collect sales tax and disburse it to the state on a quarterly
basis. We diligently collect and report those sales, as we do all
our tax concerns, because we use this philosophy: If you aren't
paying taxes, you aren't making money. Yet now as the economy
worsens, our state and others have looked to ways to increase their
revenue. As to keeping up with the debate, we must say focusing on
the day-to-day sales and promotion takes up all our time.
What do you think of Internet taxes? Do you think it's
just an inevitability, or unfair for e-tailers?
Fletcher: We have the same answer to both questions: yes.
Taxing sales raises revenue for states suffering in a poor economy.
E-tailers, most of us small, self-employed business owners, have
elected to sustain ourselves and have to work hard just to stay in
business. Keeping up with, or even just figuring out how to keep up
with, paying a sales tax to all states would have a tremendous
impact on the scant work force that most e-tailers have.
Any other comments?
Fletcher: If the government is going to impose this on us
and others like us, we surely could use some major help
implementing it. A much better approach would be for the states to
work among themselves on a way to collect these taxes. Their
resources are vastly greater than most of us e-tailers who are
concentrating on making a living. Ultimately, the cost of business
will go up, which will mean prices will go up and be passed on to
the consumer.
Cheri Neveu, The
SoapMeister
Neveu began her e-business in Ardenvoir, Washington, in 1997 after
friends and family expressed interest in purchasing her handmade
soaps. She has since extended her reach into selling shower favors,
private-label and novelty soaps. Read more about The SoapMeister
here.
What do you think of Internet taxes? Do you think it's
just an inevitability or unfair for e-tailers?
Neveu: I believe the online purchases will eventually be
taxed. The various state revenue departments see the opportunity
for a substantial increase in their revenues and will push until
they have laws passed to cover this.
Do you think charging tax will negatively affect your
business?
Neveu: I don't believe it will negatively affect my
business. Most clients ask what the tax is when they order and are
pleasantly surprised to find none. Sales tax is like S&H.
Seldom do you purchase anything which does not include an S&H
fee, whether [it's] visible or buried in the price of the
product.
Any other comments?
Neveu: Sales tax is charged in most states, [but for the
states that don't charge sales tax,] there will be some
confusion, as those people know they are not charged and will
challenge anyone quoting a sales tax to them. This will also be a
bit of a nightmare for the online shopping carts due to the
different tax percentages throughout the states. No e-merchant
looks forward to that task!
In Entrepreneur Magazine |
Be sure to check out our "Smarts" section in April 2003 Entrepreneur, which includes an article exploring the Internet tax debate in more depth. |