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To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (45929)	12/13/1999 7:58:00 AM
From: long-gone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116764

<<remember the scandal re Cartiers etc when it supposedly shipped empty boxes>> na, don't remember that one. You will note from the article, the senators talking about the need for the taxes are from Texas, there was a big stink raised there when Netgrocers arrived,with no sales taxes & the local companies all have to charge them. Texas is a no income tax state, so the netgrocer geally gets a break over the local grocer.

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (45929)	12/13/1999 3:16:00 PM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116764

OT Company Press Release Internet Retailers Have Unfair Advantage Over Main Street Retailers, Taxpayers Survey Shows WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 1999--If public opinion polls are any guide, most taxpayers believe that it is unfair that Main Street retailers must collect sales taxes, while Internet retailers don't, says a national opinion poll released today by the National Association of Counties (NACo) and the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM). On the issue of tax fairness, nearly three out of four Americans (72 percent) say that it is unfair that their local businesses must collect sales taxes while Internet retailers do not. Conducted in November, the random survey of 1,000 Americans clearly reveals taxpayers' strong opinions about sales taxes and the collection of these taxes on goods sold by vendors on the Internet. For most state and local governments, nearly a third of all revenues come from sales taxes. ``It is clear that most Americans get the connection,' said C. Vernon Gray, NACo president and Howard County (Md.) Council Chair. ``Intelligent taxpayers realize that local and state governments must collect sales taxes to provide services such as education, water and sewer, trash pickup, traffic control, roads and bridges, and provide salaries to police and firefighters. Without sales taxes, these services just don't exist.' Eighty percent of American taxpayers believe that all retailers who do business in their communities should collect sales taxes, and nearly 60 percent specifically said they support sales taxes on goods purchased from Internet retailers. ``Whether shopping on-line or shopping at Sears, Americans realize that many of their community's established retailers are unfairly disadvantaged because they are collecting sales taxes while their dazzling cyber competitors are not,' said Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, USCM president. ``By collecting sales taxes, one provides for the future strength and stability of the local community, while the other neglects their responsibility to that same community.' Current projections over the next five years indicate a loss of up to 10 percent of sales tax revenue because of a substantial increase in Internet sales on which sales tax will not be collected. Of those surveyed, more than 80 percent said they would not support a local tax increase, such as property, personal property or income taxes to make up the difference, or welcome a reduction of public services to offset the loss of tax revenue. One of the primary issues expected before Congress next year includes the tax fairness and equity issue as it relates to Main Street merchants, as well as to Internet vendors. With that in mind, nearly two out of three Americans (64 percent) believe the collection of sales taxes should be simplified, whether an item is purchased over the counter, or on the Internet. biz.yahoo.com

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (45929)	12/13/1999 3:19:00 PM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116764

OT Sunday December 12 1:22 AM ET White House Opposes Tax Ban on Internet Sales WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Clinton Administration on Friday opposed proposals to ban the collection of sales taxes on Internet purchases and urged consideration of plans to simplify the nation's tangled collection of sales taxes. The remarks by a senior administration official, who asked not to be identified, came as a 19-member, blue-ribbon panel prepared to convenes next Tuesday in San Francisco to continue debate on whether taxes should be banned on goods and purchases purchased over the Internet. In the administration's first policy statement on the volatile sales-tax question, the official said the White House opposes a proposal by Virginia Governor James Gilmore to completely exempt from sales taxes all goods bought from remote Internet vendors. Instead, the congressionally appointed panel should 'carefully examine' an ambitious tax simplification plan rolled out by the National Governors' Association to simplify tax collection by shifting most of collection work from retailers to the states. The Gilmore plan ``violates fundamental principals of tax neutrality and raises troubling questions,' the official said. The Gilmore approach could encourage merchants to establish Internet kiosks in every store so consumers can make all of their purchases on line and avoid paying sales tax, he said. (cont) dailynews.yahoo.com