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To: Michael Burry who wrote (6313)	3/15/1999 1:46:00 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78476

But you admit that you wink-wink at the law! <g> Our state, also, has a use tax on items brought into the state on which state sales tax has not been paid. Needless to say, I of course report all such purchases and pay the use tax religiously. You DO believe me, don't you? On a more serious note, though, this sales/use tax situation is going to have to be addressed. Much as I hate taxes, states do need at least some revenue to run at least minimal essential services. Mail order and the net allow generally more affluent consumers to avoid paying sales tax which those who purchase at local stores don't avoid. What's the result? a) in broad terms (of course there are exceptions, but in broad terms) the less wealthy/astute subsidize the more wealthy/astute, b) tax rates must be raised to compensate for the lost revenues, and c) it won't be long before states get serious about enforcing their use or utility taxes. A few high profile cases of web purchasers fined major sums or even tossed in the clink for buying over the net and not paying the tax will either loosen up some tax money or put a big dent in net commerce, or both. P.S. I wonder whether California could force Amazon, for example, to disclose all its sales to California residents and send out a bunch of tax overdue notices. Wouldn't THAT start some fun!