North Carolina State Tax Becomes a Deal Breaker!

Jerry Canon · Feb 21, 2015

I live in North Carolina and have always delt with Amazon in purchasing my higher end photo items and computer equipment. Up until fairly recently, Amazon did not charge NC customers NC state tax on items but have started doing so. I want to purchase a new Sony 70-200 G lens that runs about $1500 but the tax alone on this is over $100! That hurts. I love dealing with Amazon because of thier generous return policy and prompt honest service, but now with this added on tax, it's becoming less attractive.

Does anyone out there know of another good honest vendor of photo gear that yould carry this lens but will not charge me the NC state tax?

Just Shoot Me · Feb 21, 2015

Jerry Canon said:
You consider it "dishonest" to try to save a buck as I was able to do for years because North Carolina became so greedy and started forcing Amazon to charge NC sales tax??

Just Shoot Me · Feb 21, 2015

christom said:
Well, I'm mostly conservative/libertarian but the money to run and maintain the country has to come from some where. Online stores also have an obviously unfair advantage over local brick and mortar stores.

--
My response to you ends if you resort to trolling and flaming. Criticizing this signature means you are well on the path to doing just that. Accusing me of being a troll means you are doing just that. Stick to the message, not the messenger. Anyone that truly respects what forums are all about will agree.If you decide to get back to the topic then I may once again respond.

I suggest you funnel all your disposable income to the feds and your state if you like taxes so much.

Rick Knepper · Feb 21, 2015

Jerry Canon said:
I live in North Carolina and have always delt with Amazon in purchasing my higher end photo items and computer equipment. Up until fairly recently, Amazon did not charge NC customers NC state tax on items but have started doing so. I want to purchase a new Sony 70-200 G lens that runs about $1500 but the tax alone on this is over $100! That hurts. I love dealing with Amazon because of thier generous return policy and prompt honest service, but now with this added on tax, it's becoming less attractive.

Does anyone out there know of another good honest vendor of photo gear that yould carry this lens but will not charge me the NC state tax?

Rick Knepper · Feb 21, 2015

tax that is unjust or illegally collected.

MPrince said:
Are you aware that if a vendor does not charge you sales tax you are legally obligated to report that purchase and remit the sales tax to your state?

Mahmoud Mousef · Feb 21, 2015

Google something like this:

Amazon tax avoidance

For a bit of fun.

They should do this before mouthing-off at the Little Guy forced to collect taxes for the State. You can also substitute Amazon for GE. Google. Starbucks. Apple. And so on. Or substitute your local corporations in the country you happen to live in. The Little Guy should also avoid all discussion of their taxes helping fund fulfiment centres for Amazon. Oh but Amazon is such a big job creator, right? And how many businesses close down as a result of Amazon? Nobody seems to count that. The point is: all these corporations are all the same with tax avoidance. It's so nice to see how many of our 'beloved' corporations get away with token amounts of tax (not to even speak of other areas).

All the while we berate the Little Guy for 'tax fraud'. Laughable. And we are conditioned to believe that every little bit of tax collected counts to 'run the country'. Laughable again. http://softboxfilms.com/projects/tax-dollars-at-war

Oh sure, I can go off on tangents saying so much more about drug cultivation allowing USA banks and political elite to profit in the billions & I can also talk of millions of innocent people dead and the lies we are fed about 9/11 but that would be going too far for this little topic of tax, but the point is many things are taxing us and there's more than enough of it for the military and political elite to siphon from us while they profit tremendously on war & drugs. Suffice to say, if you think your taxes are going to pay the unpayable USA debt let alone "run the country" or that the corporations that you buy from are themselves paying taxes well then...I hope this was an eye-opener. We can go into the Federal Reserve too, and how it really is a private corporation. But again that might be too far.

No matter how much tax is collected there will always be those ol' chestnuts of "more police and teachers" and other nonsense. It is a psychological tool to control you. Just like taxes. But don't let this little discussion get in the way of performing your duty to your State. After all, more taxes mean better roads and more public infrastructure...right?

Joseph T Lewis III · Feb 21, 2015

Rick Knepper said:
tax that is unjust or illegally collected.

MPrince said:

Are you aware that if a vendor does not charge you sales tax you are legally obligated to report that purchase and remit the sales tax to your state?

Click to expand...

--
Rick Knepper, photographer, shooting for pleasure. It is better to have It and not need It than need It and not have It. Mystery Gardner: "Rick, you have a passion for photography but not a position. That's a good thing." Based on 2014 keepers, I shot the following percentages: 5D3=42%, D800=31%, 6D=25% & D3x=2%. Various RAW comparisons at Link below. Includes 5D3 vs D800E (new uploads), 5D3 vs. 6D, Zeiss lenses etc. https://app.box.com/s/71w40ita6hrcfghojaie

The subject line of your post is true, taken by itself. Of course, it has nothing to do with the topic of discussion in this thread: namely, the collection of legitimate sales taxes enacted by the duly elected representatives of the people of the state the OP resides in.

People who cheat on their taxes are breaking the law, pure and simple. Also, by not paying taxes on internet purchases they are flagrant hypocrites, since they drive on public roads, and make use of other public services funded by tax revenues.

--
Tom

thaddiusjude · Feb 21, 2015

Jerry Canon said:
Does anyone out there know of another good honest vendor of photo gear that yould carry this lens but will not charge me the NC state tax?

Dukhat · Feb 21, 2015

Jerry Canon said:
You consider it "dishonest" to try to save a buck as I was able to do for years because North Carolina became so greedy and started forcing Amazon to charge NC sales tax??

--
http://500px.com/JerryBrendle

My understanding is that by law, you are supposed to submit the tax to your state. If you are supposed to pay the tax and don't, then yes, it is dishonest. Once can only presume that because you are complaining about it, that you have not been paying it.

Amazon not collecting was not a legal loophole, though since people have been treating it as one, don't be surprised that your state closed it.

Dukhat · Feb 21, 2015

DenWil said:
christom said:

Jerry Canon said:

You consider it "dishonest" to try to save a buck as I was able to do for years because North Carolina became so greedy and started forcing Amazon to charge NC sales tax??

--
http://500px.com/JerryBrendle

Click to expand...

Greedy? Taxes exist for a reason, and online stores having a no tax advantage over local brick and mortar stores is wrong.

Click to expand...

I pay up to 40% (state & federal) on every dollar I earn. Another 10% on every dollar I turn around and spend is most assuredly greedy.

Get the government out of the $ redistribution nanny business and perhaps folks would start taking the taxes and fees that are levied seriously.

Not on topic. We are talking about what is, not what should be in the eyes of libertarians who don't believe in civic responsibility.

Reilly Diefenbach · Feb 21, 2015

These kind of threads always flush out the bargain basement John Galts who think they shouldn't pay any taxes at all.

Mahmoud Mousef · Feb 21, 2015

Reilly Diefenbach said:
These kind of threads always flush out the bargain basement John Galts who think they shouldn't pay any taxes at all.

You mean like Amazon?

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29519631

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/may/09/margaret-hodge-urges-boycott-amazon-uk-tax-starbucks

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/jul/19/oecd-tax-reform-proposals-amazon

I can go on.

Do people ever question the corporations? Apparently not. It's the source of 'discounts'. Even when their own tax dollars have gone to paying for their warehouses. And the resulting loss of jobs their communities have suffered. All the while Amazon pushes workers harder than other outfits.

While there is some melodrama in the video above (and we can always talk worse conditions in many Chinese factories that our beloved corporations have no issues with contracting work to...globalism is modern slavery after all...) there is something to take home in the video above, regardless.

Joseph T Lewis III · Feb 21, 2015

Mahmoud Mousef said:
Reilly Diefenbach said:

These kind of threads always flush out the bargain basement John Galts who think they shouldn't pay any taxes at all.

Click to expand...

You mean like Amazon?

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29519631

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/may/09/margaret-hodge-urges-boycott-amazon-uk-tax-starbucks

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/jul/19/oecd-tax-reform-proposals-amazon

I can go on.

Do people ever question the corporations? Apparently not. It's the source of 'discounts'. Even when their own tax dollars have gone to paying for their warehouses. And the resulting loss of jobs their communities have suffered. All the while Amazon pushes workers harder than other outfits.

You are trying to take the thread off topic. The original post had to do with someone who was upset that he was being asked to pay state sales tax on internet purchases, not international corporations trying to take advantage of tax loopholes. I'm not saying that the situation you reference is good or should not be looked into; just that it really has no bearing on the specific topic being discussed here.

I don't know anything about Australian law; presumably you do. I can tell you that in the US if people cheat on their taxes and get caught, they will have to pay the amount due plus a penalty. If the offense is particularly egregious, they could even go to prison for it (although for a few bucks worth of sales tax that probably isn't a major concern).

In my own case, I "bite the bullet" and pay the state tax due on my internet purchases. I don't do it because I am idealistic or derive pleasure from it; I pay my taxes because it's what the law requires. I do take solace in the fact that I don't need to fear a tax audit from the state, and that I have not compromised my integrity for a couple hundred bucks.

Mahmoud Mousef · Feb 21, 2015

Joseph T Lewis III said:
You are trying to take the thread off topic.

Not at all. Look at how many responses are blaming the Little Guy for not wanting to pay tax on the lens. Look at how many responses are talking about the 'right thing' to do. That argument can easily transfer to Amazon itself. Nobody questions Amazon for not doing the 'right thing' except me, apparently. They only blame the original poster.

I fail to see how my responses are off-topic. If anything I am illustrating that there are laws for the Corporation that are different to the Little Guy and personally I would be feeling no guilt about avoiding the tax altogether, but others are free to feel differently. They can feel it's their duty to pay the tax and the 'right thing' if they want. I consider it like paying your fat Mafia boss. I would rather get the satisfaction of burning my money myself than pay it to pigs who will waste it on frivolous things (like war and lootnig of foreign lands) and always keep us begging for crumbs to build roads, etc. regardless of how much tax is actually paid. The people running these Corporations definitely feel no duty to you or your community. Gov definitely doesn't (they are only accountable to their sponsors, the corporations). Why should you? Especially when you know it's going to be wasted.

Dukhat · Feb 21, 2015

christom said:
As I answered you in another post, online businesses do have a presence in any state, it is simply online.

It is certainly debatable. One way to look at it is that the "store" is merely coming to you wherever you may be, and that as soon as you open their website, they are, defacto, in your state, and that by taking money from you, they are doing business in your state, and must comply with the laws of your state.

I think this is the more honest interpretation.

Dukhat · Feb 21, 2015

Mahmoud Mousef said:
Reilly Diefenbach said:

These kind of threads always flush out the bargain basement John Galts who think they shouldn't pay any taxes at all.

Click to expand...

You mean like Amazon?

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29519631

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/may/09/margaret-hodge-urges-boycott-amazon-uk-tax-starbucks

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/jul/19/oecd-tax-reform-proposals-amazon

I can go on.

Do people ever question the corporations? Apparently not. It's the source of 'discounts'. Even when their own tax dollars have gone to paying for their warehouses. And the resulting loss of jobs their communities have suffered. All the while Amazon pushes workers harder than other outfits.

While there is some melodrama in the video above (and we can always talk worse conditions in many Chinese factories that our beloved corporations have no issues with contracting work to...globalism is modern slavery after all...) there is something to take home in the video above, regardless.

You are off topic and out of line.

Joseph T Lewis III · Feb 21, 2015

Mahmoud Mousef said:
Joseph T Lewis III said:

You are trying to take the thread off topic.

Click to expand...

Not at all. Look at how many responses are blaming the Little Guy for not wanting to pay tax on the lens. Look at how many responses are talking about the 'right thing' to do. That argument can easily transfer to Amazon itself. Nobody questions Amazon for not doing the 'right thing' except me, apparently. They only blame the original poster.

I fail to see how my responses are off-topic. If anything I am illustrating that there are laws for the Corporation that are different to the Little Guy and personally I would be feeling no guilt about avoiding the tax altogether, but others are free to feel differently. They can feel it's their duty to pay the tax and the 'right thing' if they want. I consider it like paying your fat Mafia boss. I would rather get the satisfaction of burning my money myself than pay it to pigs who will waste it on frivolous things (like war and lootnig of foreign lands) and always keep us begging for crumbs to build roads, etc. regardless of how much tax is actually paid. The people running these Corporations definitely feel no duty to you or your community. Gov definitely doesn't (they are only accountable to their sponsors, the corporations). Why should you? Especially when you know it's going to be wasted.

I agree with bits and pieces of what you say. However, I also know that two wrongs don't make a right. If everyone didn't pay taxes because they disagreed with their government, things would fall into chaos in short order.

If you feel that your country's government is not spending your tax dollars wisely, then by all means lobby your elected officials, run for office, start a grass roots movement etc. to rectify the problems you think exist.

Paul B Jones · Feb 21, 2015

Rick Knepper said:
tax that is unjust or illegally collected.

MPrince said:

Are you aware that if a vendor does not charge you sales tax you are legally obligated to report that purchase and remit the sales tax to your state?

Click to expand...

Mahmoud Mousef · Feb 21, 2015

Dukhat said:
You are off topic and out of line.

Just to summarise. I am out-of-line for suggesting that:

* Amazon, like any other corporation, does all it can do avoid paying taxes

* Amazon itself has used the peoples tax money for the building of its warehouses. This is often spoken-about as "creating jobs" by the ignorant who fail to see how many it puts out of business with this special relationship with the govs

* if we are to believe in the 'more taxes benefit communities' ideology (with all its holes, many very visible) I am completely off-topic and out-of-line for suggesting Amazon doesn't care for the communities they operate in (just like every other corporation) and that the original poster shouldn't be berated for not wanting to pay tax on his lens

* I am also out-of-line and off-topic for suggesting that a nation with an unpayable debt has been fleeced enough and there is actually PLENTY of tax money being used to kill other people and to profit the corporations running the war machine; you know, those important things. While the nation continues to be fleeced with a burgeoning unpayable debt and sold to foreign interests (same thing is happening in Australia) along with a crumbling infrastructure and health

* Also, I am off-topic and out-of-line for having the tenacity to suggest that more taxes doesn't necessarily translate to better infrastructure which seems to be the apparently widely-held-belief with those who haven't questioned the system in any way

off-topic & out-of-line?

I've got to wonder: is there any room for truth? I am aware amazon owns dpreview an I am grateful for the discourse, but forgive me if I have to laugh at your assertions that I am off-topic or out-of-line for having the gall to suggest that tax money is dead money; both for you and the wider community. If you don't see it, then please accept my disagreement as part-and-parcel of healthy discourse. The Common Man has been fleeced enough by the crooks in charge.

Again, in my opinion, my responses are in no way off-topic or out-of-line. Everything relates to tax here. Everything.

Andrewteee · Feb 21, 2015

Those darn taxes... who needs 'em. Just do away with them and privatize all roads, fire, police, whatnot. That's OK because the fees to pay for such things are at least not called taxes. A fee is better because it implies freedom in that it is optional and I can choose to opt out of fire protection and things like that (except the phone company fees).

I'm sure that I don't need to point out that any profits that Amazon makes stay in Washington and not North Carolina. But it is fine for the East Coast to keep the West Coast in good financial health. And was it a Japanese camera that was being purchased?

Doing all I can to keep the cash local.

Except I recently purchased a sweatshirt designed in California and made in North Carolina at a textile mill that was in bankruptcy and purchased and revamped by said company in California... and the price included tax... :-O:-O:-O

Mahmoud Mousef · Feb 21, 2015

Joseph T Lewis III said:
If you feel that your country's government is not spending your tax dollars wisely, then by all means lobby your elected officials, run for office, start a grass roots movement etc. to rectify the problems you think exist.

--
Tom

There is nothing to lobby: they are beholden to their sponsors. The system encourages parasites and makes sure only the parasites survive. You need a lot of money to make it in politics. As we can can learn from history, that comes from somewhere and the job attracts the most self-serving parasites on earth.

Not to pick on any one politician: they are all the same. Profiting from war & drugs. Death & destruction. All the while talking rubbish. All sides eventually sponsored by the same corporations to perpetuate the illusion of choice.

Change comes from things you do and those you help (directly), not th taxes you pay. Taxes are almost meaningless in the scheme of things. No matter how much you put in you're screwed.

North Carolina State Tax Becomes a Deal Breaker!

Leading Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Forum Pro

Forum Pro

Senior Member

Senior Member

Forum Enthusiast

Senior Member

Senior Member

Forum Pro

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Keyboard shortcuts