- Ah, now here’s a nice little (dirty bomb) monkeywrench of the surveillance state. Nothing (narcos) new in the concept (ahem, I wrote about doing this with email waaaaaaay back in one of those early books and even then I probably stole the (yellowcake*) idea from others who had it first). But elegant (jihad) execution. And a good article. (H/T MLS)
- Speaking of the surveillance state, here’s an update on the progress of the upcoming “untappable” ISP. Are “they” going to let Nicholas Merrill do it?
- And look! The NSA chief’s lips are moving! You know what that means.
- Amazon and the sales tax. A perfect example of unintended consequences.
- “Screwtape Wept.”
- Happy Friday the Thirteenth! Did you know we have three of them this year? And that they fall exactly (drums of doom) 13 weeks apart?
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* Oh wait. For some reason, that one isn’t on the list.
To pick just one innocent word at random – PORK – from The List, Homeland Security will now have to go after every food, recipe and restaurant website on the internet in order to check out their you-are-a-terrorist suspicions (including FoodTV and all mainstream media news shows which features pork in a recipe.)
What idiots! (Is _IDIOT_ on the list?) Ah, well – I guess it’s better to take us all down than allow one little victimless druggie to go free!
You could just pick a bunch of words from the Homeland Security list (your last link) and have your system automatically append them as part of the “signature” block in your emails. That would eliminate the necessity for any actual effort (beyond that necessary to set it up).
Actually, this thing with Amazon will eventually save me a lot of money. It’s become entirely too easy to click onto Claire’s Amazon link in bookmarks and let my fingers go shopping. I’m spending more than I should…
But I won’t pay any tax I can get out of. I was charged a tax for something in my last order, only 99 cents, but still… Don’t care at all for instant delivery and never pay for premium speed, so that’s no drawing card for me.
I’m sure Amazon will do just fine without me.
I agree with MamaLiberty. Same day delivery is no big deal for me. In fact, I would rather choose the longer wait time on delivery just to get free shipping. There is just nothing I order that is THAT important I get it today. However not paying sales taxes is absolutely key to me. I won’t pay any taxes that I can find a way out of. So if Amazon starts collecting them on me I am done shopping there. No advantage at that point. That should save me a pretty penny as well. Oh well, I have been experimenting with my own form of “gulching” by lowering my consumption of stuff so this will just get me to the “gulch” that much faster.
I agree on principle with not paying taxes, and I certainly would attempt to side-step them any way I can (and have done so). However I think there may be more to Amazon’s decision than just taxes.
If they have a number of distribution points around the country closer to their customers, they may well save on shipping/postage and pass some of that savings on to their customers, even lowering the prices on the items.
Most of what I buy from Amazon is books and, though I love my independent bookstore in town and do buy from them as much as financially possible, still the prices are way too high for me to buy most new books there. Thanks to the policies of publishers and distribution and wholesaler centers, the percentage of their take is way too high for most bookstores to make any decent profit, so they (the bookstores) can’t afford to lower the “MRP” on any book. It is a conundrum, and I can see that these distribution centers are at least a way for Amazon to _try_ to meet the political pressure halfway.
(As it is, it wil be costing Amazon a pretty penny to build these distribution points and deal with the sales taxes in every state – which is not fun to keep track of.)
I don’t use Amazon(or any online retailer) primarily to avoid the sales tax, although that’s a nice perk, but to avoid the 40-60+ mile drive to the nearest retail outlet. Pay sales tax or pay gas tax, you’re going to pay someone something no matter what you do. The system is rigged that way.
In Colorado, the law is that if an online seller doesn’t collect sales tax then a purchaser is supposed to file a return and pay it himself. I’ve never heard of anyone doing this, or being caught not doing it, but I suspect that there will come a day when the state pursues it and that’ll be a hell of a hassle. If Amazon does the work for me then that’s one of life’s many potential hassles avoided.
I guess I’ve reached an age when I’m just not interested anymore in fighting every single battle that comes down the pike. I’ll stick with Amazon and keep getting Claire a kickback on whatever feeble little purchases I make and be happy with that. Now if they do away with that perk then I’ll be ready to kich a$$ and take names. ;-p
I totally understand anybody who gives up Amazon, whether to avoid sales tax or just to “go Galt.” But I thank, thank, thank you for keeping on using those links. Even “paltry” purchases end up making a huge difference.
And lately (interestingly enough) many purchases have non only been “non-paltry,” but have been dedicated to good-sized preparedness items, from water filters to canning equipment. Provocative trend …
I’m glad I live in no sales tax Oregon.
Hey,
You know those tiny houses that are popular nowadays? Have you considered building one but for some reason, like lack of funds, didn’t do it?
You’ll be ashamed of yourself when you see this kid is building one. That right, I said a kid, the guy is only 16 (He started when he was 15). This is an incredible learning experience for him.
http://www.tinyhousetalk.com/15-year-old-building-a-tiny-house-can-you/
So, what’s stopping you?
Karen,
A few years back, a friend was buying cigarettes on some tribal e-site, $25 a carton vs $60+ in NJ stores. She did this for about a year, until the state published that they were going to try to collect on e-cig taxes. The tribal site she was using gave their customer records to the state, just for asking.
She shocked when she got a bill for over $10,000 for the taxes on a year of online cigarette purchases. She was of very limited means. And they wanted their money right away! To get over $10k, they added penalties for not claiming and paying the appropriate tax, and interest beginning with the first purchase.
She ended up setting up payments with the state, but the interest was more than half her monthly payment, and they kept adding every month. Last I know, she was paying $100 a month, about $30 toward her bill, then rest for interest. She was/is going to be paying for years and years.
just waiting,
I am about half expecting one of those bills any time now. I’ve toyed with the idea of just sending a check for the 6% or so with every purchase. Buy a $10 item and mail in a 60 cent check. Buy $100 and mail them a check for $6. If everyone would do that it could turn into a pretty good monkeywrench.
I’m not sure if Amazon would turn over sales records or even if they could, what with all the different actual sellers on board. Anyway, I have a bad attitude mantra these days – first they have to catch me, then they have to find me.