AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage sent a letter last week to Maine’s two Republican senators urging them to support the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would allow states to collect taxes on Internet sales.
The bill before Congress seeks to change federal tax policy that lets large online-only retailers such as Amazon avoid the collection and remittance of state sales taxes. Traditional retailers have said having two standards hurts the local economy.
“From my experience in the retail world, I can assure you that Maine retailers love competition,” wrote LePage, who spent many years in the retail sector as manager of Marden’s. “They know competition sharpens their services and products, and keeps customers coming back. But the rules need to be fair and applied equally. Give Maine people a chance to compete on a level playing field and they will shine.”
Maine’s governor has not been supportive of new taxes during his time in office, but his letter indicates that he does not see this as a new tax.
“It simply provides for the collection of sales tax already due,” he wrote.
Technically everyone who lives in a state that collects sales taxes owes tax when they buy an item online and use it in their home state. Most states with a sales tax also have a use tax that applies to out-of-state sales, but that has always been difficult to enforce.
Last summer, the National Conference of State Legislatures pointed to a University of Tennessee study that estimated states would lose $23.3 billion in uncollected taxes on Internet sales in 2012. Maine’s share was estimated at $65.4 million.
The federal bill appears to have the support of many business groups in Maine, including the Maine Merchants Association.
“In this state we like to talk about Maine jobs for Maine people, and small businesses in Maine are indeed the backbone of our economy,” said Curtis Picard, director of the association. “If this bill passes, the state’s retailers will compete on a level playing field, and Gov. LePage is to be commended for his strong support of Maine’s local businesses.”
Jennifer Johnson of Johnson Sporting Goods in Portland also was pleased that the governor supported the measure.
“It is really nice to see Gov. LePage support small, locally owned businesses,” Johnson said in a statement. “As the situation stands now, there is a flow of money leaving the state that should be staying here to fuel Maine’s economy.”
It’s not clear when Congress will vote on the Marketplace Fairness Act or whether the bill has support. Attempts to reach representatives for Snowe and Collins were not successful late Tuesday. Last summer, both Snowe and Collins indicated they did not support the tax.
U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud, both Democrats, have been supportive of the measure.
An increase in sales taxes could allow LePage to pay for some of the proposals he has outlined, including a plan to reduce income taxes further, although it’s not clear yet how much extra revenue Maine would get.
“State budget deliberations are well under way, and it would be quite helpful to have certainty about our future revenue streams,” the governor wrote. “I have pledged to lower Maine’s income taxes and stop wasteful government spending. One powerful tool in achieving these goals would be to have the ability to collect taxes that are due.”
Old idea, everyone agrees and of course someone’s been working on it for years. However as we all know, at this time such a tax remains unenforceable. This is just more babble dropped from Paul’s mouth as he heads off on another sunny vacation. Go get some “relaxin” Paul. Try to come back with some fresh ideas or perhaps even one of your own. Now that would be something new!
If Obama proposed this idea, you would have said it is brilliant. What do you do all day, wait for new stories to come out about our governor? Yours is always the first post, Mr. Cutler.
I’m pretty sure the President has more important things to do than fixate on something great minds have been working on since Ebay sold it’s first Pez. You know, like bringing back the economy and jobs lost in the previous eight years. Go Pres!
Lepage has it backwards. Instead of taxing the internet.. he should remove the sales tax from brick and mortar stores.
Follow the Sponsor and the Text!
This is a Republican Bill designed to give States Rights to enforce Taxation as they see fit!
Interstate Commerce falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, this is more of the same Republican attack on Federal Control of States.
It is not hard to figure out that these quys are trying to set States up as individual little countrys subject to the rule of the Tea Party Governors under control of ALEC and thus under control of a few whealthy people and their corporations.
Watch what is going on in the other Republican Tea Party Governor States for—-
Previews of Coming Attractions!
Don’t hold your breath!
All those r’s who signed Norquist’s non-tax pledge will not vote for it.Funny how the gov doesn’t mind raising taxes as long as he doesn’t have to sign the bill.I wonder if he’s signed on with Norquist.
the Rs don’t care if they tax the internet they will collect on the other end, it is taxing them the same as the average American that they object to because they are the ‘job creaters’ LOL
Don’t be surprised if they break the pledge.If they add a flat 5% tax across the board it would be easy to implement and the amount raised would be staggering.The R’s never miss a chance to screw the little guy.
That would be YES. I keep a list, so I know who not to vote for.
He’s not raising taxes….duh.
Obama already proposed it 2 years ago.
http://cfif.org/v/index.php/commentary/62/550-surprise-obamas-fcc-quietly-proposes-nationwide-internet-tax-says-it-will-reduce-uncertainty
If this is passed then everybody will start buying on the internet from China, Mexico, etc…OH WAIT!!! We already do! ;>)
I thought this might make you happy, apparently not.
Maine law requires any purchases made out of state and brought back to Maine be “declared” and you are required to pay Maine Sales Tax on those purchases on your Maine Personal Income Tax Return.
Ha yea thats true, but lets be honest. Who really does that? I’m sorry but even the government knows come tax season everyone is out there to get their own. If you say you save all your internet based sales every year and claim them, well good for you. Your either an upstanding citizen or a liar. I’d be willing to bet the ladder.
Before I bet would that be a wooden or aluminum ladder and how many feet would that ladder be? Just kidding, I don’t mean to be the grammar police. My grammar is terrible. I estimate my out of state purchases each year and as a tax preparer I purposely overestimate it. I should feel guilty about not knowing the exact amount.
Ha, I have no problem admitting my grammar could use work from time to time. Nice mockery of my post but whats most important is the point being made.
As a person who’s life relies on the preparation of taxes I’d be surprised to hear you cheated in some way. Actually I take that back, I read about people cheating and stealing from high positions all the time. The ironic thing is if you didn’t have so much integrity you’d probably do much better financially helping the people with large amounts of money find loopholes to save them some dough.
Then again I’m sure you already do that.
Would it be a legal freedom of information request to get the number of legislators who declared any use tax on their returns. I can just see it now….only 10 legislators declared use tax and a 100 claiming they did.
What you are talking about is double taxation and what the Gov. is asking for is taxing what Maine businesses sell over the Internet to folks outside of Maine be taxed. This would destroy some small business.
OK, first explain how this is “double taxation”.
No go back and read that article. This is a federal bill not a state bill. It would apply to ALL business not just those in Maine. i.e. If you ordered a computer over the internet from a company based in New Hampshire you could no longer purchase that item tax free. That is not the case today.
But again, please explain how this creates a “double taxation” situation.
Do you realize how costly it will be for every business to manage tax records for all 50 states? This bill and others similar to it are aimed at destroying internet commerce.
Yes of course. And your point is that Mr. LePage wants to pass a bill that essentially solves and changes nothing? Isn’t that what I said above?
It seems you didn’t read the article StillRelaxin.
a) this is a federal bill not a state bill.
b) it would require online companies to charge, collect and pay to the individual states sales taxes on purchases made from those states.
i.e. you purchase a product from Amazon. They do not charge sales tax because they are not based in Maine. This federal law closes that no tax situation so the next time you purchase a product from Amazon you will pay Maine sales tax.
how will the get the data? I buy online all the time and if they don’t charge tax, so be it. Can you imagine the overhead for the govt with all that buy on line? As a techie, you can’t get the data without taking it over.
I always find it interesting that people want services from the local, state and federal government but don’t want to pay for it. Haven’t we seen the headlines concerning cuts in services and decreased tax revenues. This is tax revenue that could help fund those programs and services that might be cut.
people want services from the local, state and federal government but don’t want to pay for it
Its called the Tea Effect!
I would explain it as cognitive dissonance, but alas one must have at least an iota of cognition to experience cognitive dissonance, so that just cannot be the reason.
It sure is and it has been going on for a while, remember their tax amnesty? How would you suggest they capture the data? I don’t know what your experienc is with computers but without monitoring your ISP/IP they cannot tell and then they would have to check all companies. How do you intend to accomplish this?
But as you pointed out, that law is already on the books. It is incumbent upon the purchaser to pay sales tax on products purchased outside of Maine when they file their income taxes. Why write another law that is redundant?
Because it isn’t happening. People do not report it.
Of course they didn’t read it…or understand it….as long as they think it will make the governor look bad. It’s never about the truth is it StillRelax’d?
It requires that, doesn’t mean they do it and there is no way to capture the data on sales tax without controlling the internet. Some sites have the tax built in but if they don’t it’s just like buying a lobster on the side of the road, who pays the tax? Me or the seller?
Under Maine law, the end user is responsible for paying the sales tax. However(again under Maine law) the seller(within the State) is responsible for calculating, collecting, and remitting to the State the proper amount based on the sale price.
If you will recall, a bill was just passed in this session of the legislature to prohibit sellers’ use or possession of business software that fudges the sales amounts to cheat the State out of some of the 5% sales tax that they’re owed under current law.
I thought this was the case because I recall going through the process on a previous return. I suppose what he is proposing would generate revenue with a direct check coming from large retailers every month.
When you say unenforceable I feel the lack of creativity in you.
Even if a law passed where it was capable to enforced the top 20 internet retailers the revenue would be solid. Your saying that Lepage is being unoriginal by trying to pass this means nothing. This is a copycat world we live in and if it means for me to get something right by following a path made by someone else who’s already done it, I’m doing it.
Every class of business has their successful innovators and the businesses that copy their success. Sometimes trying to do whats new doesn’t stand up to the guarantee of doing something right way.
How about a nice hefty tax on cheap Chinese junk that gets sold with no warranty?
so we are going to collect these ficticious taxes, so we will cut services first, oh we cant collect these taxes, darn but i look good, kind of like the medicare deal and millnocket.
$23.3 billion in uncollected taxes on Internet sales in 2012 and Maine’s “share” was just $65.4 million.
Way to look at the little picture.
65.4 million here a few dozens of millions there.
Eventually it adds up to real money.
And, who does the sales tax impact most — the middle and little guys. Paul is taking care of his own and listening to his “bosses”! People before Politics? That is just a load …
Anyone who buys off the internet . Get it, anyone!
Yeah, because really wealthy people shop online to save a few bucks here and there, right?
How is this going to create competition? In the overall picture when someone shops online if they can still get the price lower online then in store, tax or no tax, people will still buy online and guess who gets left out? Not the state, they got revenue, the local business, not so much
Just another LePage attack on the free market ! The onus will fall on the small businessman.
I don’t know that this is an attack on the free market, but it is a misinformed way of trying to raise money that would most likely destroy some small businesses. The paperwork would be tremendous and Internet mail order sales from small businesses to folks out of state would decrease and some of these Maine businesses would have to close their shops forever.
You fail to understand how the internet works. The internet has forever been Pro small business. Sites like Google and amazon started out small and became national icons in extremely short periods of time. Amazon even kept this dream going by helping small businesses sell their products online using Amazon’s platform. Anyone who owns a small business can set up a website and start selling. There is no special club you have to join to do this, and they are thousands of different ways to sell products on the internet.
Taxing the internet only hurts small businesses because it gets rid of a potential revenue. This is just LePage trying to raise taxes without bringing anger to his voters who barely know how to use a computer.
how does he expect to collect taxes from sales originating outside the country?
DID YOU REPORT THAT MONEY YOU MADE WHEN YOU HAD THAT YARD SALE?
NO? No one does? ha!
COMING SOON: ANYONE WHO HOLDS A YARD SALE MUST REPORT AND PAY STATE TAXES ON ANY MONEY TAKEN IN
Does your yardsale generate more than $500,000 a year in sales? No? Then guess what – the law doesn’t apply to you.
Facts are fun!
So, you support the addition of this tax, then. Explain, please, how the Maine Merchants Association will benefit.
It is plain and simple, many small businesses in Maine that sell out of state would lose customers and then go out of business. So, what would happenn to that tax revenue then.
Contitutional? Giving up state rights? How about a foreign company making internet sales in the US? How are you going to enforce that? First sale tax then a state income tax on corporations who have no presence in the state because the sell to people in this state? Different sales tax rules based on income? How about different sales tax rates on the amount of purchase? 50 different state sales tax laws so the federal government will overrule the states and change the laws to conform. Who is going audit these companies? Is the state going to send auditors to the far conners of the earth? But you say this is different because they are BIG corporations? Wait, it starts at the top, but with the Goverment it will spread until it reaches the local business, after all with the internet business is hardly local. Before any of our legilators vote on this I would like to see the statistics on how many of them declare use tax on their Maine income tax returns.
Our legislatures will not vote on it. It’s a federal proposal that your Governor supports. Only your Congresspersons will be able to vote.
This is about internet purchases, and I don’t spend 500k a year on those, so this won’t apply to me. Facts are indeed fun! Whaaa?
The $500,000 is on the other end, the seller. More dividion and different rules for different financial strata. Who is going to audit these companies to see if they meet the $500,000 limit. I foresee a whole new group of government regulators.
I’m sure that a committee will be formed to decide what sort of committee should oversee the agency that will regulate the types of committes set up to make sure everyone but themselves pays as much taxes as they can’t afford
Hey, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story!
Income generated from a yard sale doesn’t count as “other sources of income?”
So why do I have to claim the paltry amount of interest earned on my savings account, sometimes a mere few dollars a year?
Oh yeah, I don’t make millions, so I have to account for every cent of my income.
A yard sale is not subject to sales tax unless you try to disguise a busines as one.
Yard sales aren’t, not yet anyway.
Yard sales are defined as casual non retail sales and are exempt, unless the seller is in fact a retailer and runs the “yard sale” for unusually long periods and makes a sizable income from it.
You are even allowed to sell an entire estate’s contents other than vehicles and real estate, with no taxes due unless you hire a retailer who normally sells things as part of his/her business.
http://www.maine.gov/revenue/salesuse/RefGuideOct2011.pdf
There may not be any taxes when purchasing online but the savings is practically erased by shipping and handling charges. Is LePage looking to kill the internet entrepreneur??
Internet shopping sales tax depends on whether the retailer has a store in Maine. If they do they charge sales tax, if they don’t have a store they don’t charge sales tax. At least this has been my experience. In a lot of cases, you can buy the exact same thing on the Internet as in a retail store, for a lot less money, even including shipping and sales tax. I realize the small retailer that has a store, has to charge more for their product, whereas Amazon for instance, can sell the same thing
cheaper, they have so many sub lease [I guess you call them] stores that sell through Amazon.
ComradeX, I see this comment of yours as a perfect reflection of the kind of “Thinking” I’ve spent my personal and professional life fighting to cleanse from my surroundings. I’d love to see it remain as a indication of the kind of “Thinking” behind a typical supporter of Paul LePage. I’m actually going to beg others not to flag it. Unfortunately, I fear that it’s simply too nasty even for the censors to ignore. Good luck though and please do keep up the great work.
So sensitive! Sir or Madame what ever you are, I will NEVER subscribe to your totalitarian views. Let your censors silence other voices if you must.
Yo clever boy. Do try to read for comprehension. StillRexaxlin expressed the hope that your prior vile comment would NOT be censored, but would in fact remain for all to view the ugliness it represents.
Dear Gov. We do this already, it’s called the USE TAX. Double-Dippin’ is only good for Ice Cream cones and blotter acid.
The use tax only applies to purchases you have not already paid sales tax on.
So this would not be double taxing.
Hmmm… sounds like _ _ _ _ ing up a rope!
Or as it has been so aptly stated “Some folk’s just got to try and skate up hill.” Light’s on and no one not only at home. There’s no one in the County !
No problem mun. We be in Jamacia. And Marden’s doesn’t do internet sales!
Ready to whaaboom the general population with a groaning, universal and regressive sales tax while doing double back flips to ease the tax burdens on those most able to bear it. What a peice of work. Cut the social safety net in every way he can and extract more money out of the hides of those he punishes who are least able to pay.
It’s hard to get people driving to New Hampshire, especially those in western Maine living right next to New Hampshire to pay Maine sales taxes, or use taxes on those items. Internet allows people in other parts of Maine that are traditionally known to be poorer communities get a chance to have a tax free item too.
Although, a tax is a tax and should be collected, but as others have said, it is hard to enforce. Until all states near Maine adopt a comparable or higher sales tax, it will hurt Maine businesses, and Maine people who do not live near the border who are more likely to make less money, except the Portland area, who are more likely to pay more of those taxes.
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont have higher sales taxes. It would hurt people to make them pay those sales taxes and come back to Maine and pay Maine’s tax. I think it would be more fair to be able to get a credit for sales taxes paid to those other states and pay Maine sales tax or use tax on those items brought back to Maine instead, but I do not see that as an option on the tax forms?
I think it is easier to pay the sales taxes when the items are bought online than to remember what was bought and for how much when taxes are due. I say why not let the states collect the money owed from businesses that chose to do business with people in their states.
“I say why not let the states collect the money owed from businesses that chose to do business with people in their states.”
They are going to enforce this how? A large bureaucrasy not controlled by the state? Create a huge audit group within the state? After you do the audit and say X Company owes Y amount how are you going to collect? You have no property to attach or income to levy? Foreign companies? Lets just give up more control and have a world tax agency.
I haven’t seen anything about the National Tea Party supporting this.
Well, let’s just say if I decide to buy tea bags on Amazon….I bet they support this tax.
X, with all respect, Amazon has been fighting this for over the past 5 years and has shown no signs of backing off. They know, as will everybody else eventually, that this Use Tax nonsense is a huge regulatory burden given that every retailer, Internet or not, would have to compute the specifc tax for every specific jurisdiction and then comply with that specific jurisduction’s Sales Tax filing criteria. In short, everybody has to comply with everyone’s tax filing criteria, regardless of State, sales tax computaional requirement’s, percentage’s, sales tax hoilday’s etc. .
As much of a practical guy as I am, and believe in being reasonable and responsible, can I get a ‘Amen’ to the reality of a group ‘cluster XXXX’ on this ? This concept is nothing more than an attempt by the State Legislature’s to infringe, if not outright remove, on the Fed’s ability to responsibly regulate interstate commerce (AKA the 10th Amendment) for the sole purpose of seizing control of the Nation’s financial system. If these same supposedly brilliant people had the smarts of a brick they would have gotten on the National Sales Tax train along time ago and we would all have had this problem solved. The so-called ‘Flat Tax’, if it had been applied to the retail and commercial sales tax environment’s, would have been a lot more easily understood, accepted and instituted. It would have provided a more evenly applied set of tax criteria to everybody and would have held up under any Court challange. And in keeping with the concept of ‘transparency’ it would have also provided a way for it to be understood, measured and enforced. LePage’s idea has long been declared both idiocy, by his own Party no less, and was seen by many as both unworkable (unless we all are prepared for a huge growth in Government to enforce this idea) and an actual regulatory job killer, given the burden it would have put on EVERY business in the country in order to comply.
Would it have provided for a local sur-tax for local needs not specifically covered by the ‘Flat Tax’ ? That’s one of the issues that needs to be worked out before this nonsense even begins. I can see a HUGE Constitutional question and arguement coming between the 10th Amendment crowd and the Fed’s. The most basic means of simplifying this whole group ‘whoopie session’ is to institute a National Sales Tax and make provision for local jurisdicational situation’s and emergencies. Again, make it applicable across-the-board and transparent in process and in the number’s. By doing that you remove all of the political hoopla and ‘Chicken Little’ nonsense from the process. And given the raging emotionalism that this seems to bring out, removing the hoopla from the equation can’t be all that bad, can it ?
This man obviously is someone with a strong, intelligent, but unconstructive opinion. Blatantly snarling Penguin throughout his “speech” made his point far less easy to relate to by a person whom he’s trying to convince otherwise.
My point being, looking at the financial situation our state is in right now, extra revenue that we could bring in is a good thing. I’m fairly young, I buy a lot of things on the internet because it is way cheaper, I’m a good shopper. Many people my age fit directly into the same category as me. This untaxed spending is hurting our local economy because we are shopping elsewhere, not buying locally. Call me greedy, but i do whats best for me.
He’s upset about the teachers, PBN, and selling away our environmental souls. All I have to say is if our beloved state made just a little more money we wouldn’t have to stoop to the levels of sacrifices important things for our society.
IMHO, anyone that disagrees with an internet sales tax is truly looking at this move made by Lepage as a political means to express their opposition. Whats sad is they do it for the sole purpose to disagree. Unconstructive.
Sell you soul and freedom for some extra revenue? You admit to breaking the current law on use tax and that is easily done because it is almosts impossible to enforce. This new law won’t be any easier to enforce. Also you don’t think the unconstitutionality of this law won’t be challenged in court?
I admit to nothing. I’m making a generalized statement that supports the ideals of my generation. Even more drastic is the ideals of the progressive future generations. Get used to it. I also said nothing about sacrificing any freedom but our environmental souls. Key word, environmental.
Currently other states do already enforce similar laws. If you challenge the rights for a company to be equally competitive with other companies who aren’t taxed then you do not support local business. It’s so simple it is unarguable.
No state can legally enforce similar laws. Unless a company has “nexus” or a connection in that state they have no legal authority to force them to collect sales tax. I support constitutional state rights. I support local business. The only online purchases I make are for unique collectables which are close to one of a kind and as I said I pay estimated (over) use tax.
I’m not saying your being untruthful but I hope you know your situation falls into a small percentage category. The majority of people lack the integrity to pay taxes in a situation when they know they don’t have to. Please explain to me how paying taxes to keep things fair is unconstitutional.
Don’t forget that there are Maine companies selling sales tax free to residents of other states.
What generation, exactly, have you elected yourself to represent? Certainly not mine.
The National Tea Party isn’t supporting this. Bangorian makes this kind of stuff up all the time. If it were not for making stuff up Bangorian would have nothing to say.
I wonder if Paul booked his vacation online – will taxes apply? :). The current federal tax policy applies to large online-only retailers such as Amazon. Sounds like all those retailers need to do is open one small corner store in some small town and the policy would no longer apply because they would not longer be doing business strictly online. I know I am grasping at straws but, all I am saying is the big retailers will find some type of loophole and just keep doing business as usual.
No wonder he’s leaving for a week vacation. He’s advocating for a tax. What will his tea baggers say to that?
Many will oppose him. Tea baggers? Grow up Steve.
Why are you chiding someone for using the exact term the movement’s founders decided to use for it?
http://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/article/?q=Mjk1YmRjNzIxNmUwMTI0ZWYxZWU4OWU2MzFiOWJmNDE=
Putting a sales tax on internet items will increase local sales. The shipping is like the tax we would pay. With tax plus shipping, we will be paying as much or more than we would at Mardens. Fat Cat wins again….
this is not smart….maine is the buyer in other states more often so we would be hurt by this……and I hope we can sell anything to get out of this mess .. without taxes … theres no money here to be earned by taxation … thats dmepcratic thingking lepage .. we elected you to NOT DO THAT
“maine is the buyer in other states more often”
Do you have data to support this or is it just a guess? I truly don’t kow the answer, but would like to see analysis that would tells us.
For the population size of Maine companies like LL Bean may tip the scales the opposite way.
Lepage has lost his mind with this dumb idea. The Republican cheating scandals to deny Ron Paul the Republican nomination is already turning off people left and right, and now this stupid move. What a fool!
What a Phony!
If he really wanted to collect Sales Tax on all items sold and brought to Maine he wouldn’t have excluded Aviation Parts in previous bills!
This is smoke— pure and simple!
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2011/06/22/business/maine-does-away-with-taxes-on-aircraft-sales-parts/
A sales tax on Internet sales would be devastating to small firms that sell out of state and would most likely put some out of business.
This has nothing too do about choking social programs, but it would destroy some small mom and pop operations that sell on-line.
How precisely would it “destroy” some Mom and Pop stores that sell online? They will simply collect the sales tax like several online retailers already do. People should pay there taxes, that is the bottom line here.
Wonder what he pays for Maine taxes. House in Florida, wife and daughters that claim Florida residency to get cheaper college tuition, then immediately move “back” to Maine to work in State government. I wonder where he registers his personal vehicles, there’s no excise tax in Florida. He sets a great example for how to play the system, all the while preaching how wrong it is, for everyone else.
What’s it matter if a kid gets cheaper college tuition, any kid would do that if they were able too. In fact I knew a few out of staters that did just that after their freshman year, they saw how much they were paying in comparison, so took a year off to get residency and started school back up after. If you can meet the eligibility requirements for residency so you could pay half as much as an out of stater does for tuition, wouldn’t you?
Most states require 2 or more years for a student to create residency.
My biggest issue with Lepage’s kids getting in state tuition in Florida was that he lied to the press and the public and said they weren’t (several times) then only told the truth when someone confronted him with undeniable proof of his lie.
I can understand the part about denying it, but it doesn’t make sense to me that people get so upset about kids getting a cheaper rate by getting residency else where, financially it makes sense for a lot of people, and isn’t that uncommon.
Yeah, the method was legal and at the time LePage was not much of a public figure (mayor of a small city with a strong City Manager/weak Mayor form of government).
The lies (this one and several others) were worrisome and, unfortunately, indicative of future tendencies to lack of truthfulness on his part.
The LePage kids did not take any time to establish residency. According to FSU’s rules regarding residency for the purpose of tuition, Paul Jr. and Lauren should never have gotten in-state tuition.
Do you have anything to back that up, because in another article from the Portland Press it says that one of his kids paid out of state tuition for a couple years before paying in state tuition, which leads me to believe they did just what anyone trying to save money on tuition would do. If they shouldn’t of gotten in state tuition than why would a school (where the amount of money the school can make is directly related to what they get from their students) allow it. The school would get nearly twice as much if not more money from a kid paying out of state tuition rates than in state.
http://www.pressherald.com/news/lepage-puts-sticky-issues-behind-him_2010-10-27.html there is the article
Yes. This is from the FSU admissions page:
“A Florida resident for tuition purposes is a US citizen who has, or a dependent person whose parent or legal guardian has, established and maintained legal residency in Florida for at least the 12 months preceding the first day of classes of the term for which residency is sought.
Living in or attending school in Florida will not, in itself, establish legal residence for tuition purposes. Students who depend on out-of-state parents for support are presumed to be legal residents of the same state as their parents.”
http://admissions.fsu.edu/residency/policy/policy.cfm
While they did pay out of state tuition for the first two years, they did not take any year long breaks which would have allowed them to establish Florida residency.
I do not know if FSU is seeking restitution for the portion of out of state tuition that the LePage’s did not have to pay. Probably not.
Is the student seeking reclassification? Students who were classified as a dependent student for tuition purposes may seek to be reclassified as an independent student should they meet certain criteria. The burden of proof is on the student seeking reclassification to show: (1) residency in Florida for the requisite 12-month period; (2) residency in the state was not temporary or incidental to enrolling in a university located in Florida; and (3) verification as an independent student if currently classified as a dependent student whose parents or legal guardians are still residing out-of-state.
Examples of evidence that may assist in substantiating residency for the purpose of maintaining a bona fide domicile may include: full-time employment (minimum of 30 hours a week), immediate relatives currently living in Florida for the previous 12 months, purchase of home, or part-time enrollment in a Florida higher education institution during the previous 12 months.http://www.flbog.org/forstudents/ati/resrequirements.php
Under the right conditions a student is able to and can get reclassification to get a change in tuition status. The school obviously gave them the in state rate so they felt that they met the requirements. What does it even matter it’s not like they were giving tuition money to the Maine system. All I was pointing out is that an out of stater getting the in state rate isn’t that uncommon for someone to do.
So, tell me tax man Paul, will you repeal the use tax from the income tax forms, or just add another little tax? Will this apply to sales from Jamaica? I guess this makes Big Paul the new poster child for TAX FRAUD.
I think the people should implement a politician tax for no less than 30% of their salary to recoup what they have stolen from us! We must stop them or next these crooked S.O.B’s will try and tax the air we breath?
5% of $1,308,000,000 is $65,400,000. Mainers had $1,308,000,000 to spend out of state?
removed
math brain freeze
More of LiePage
Won’t this have made a better poll question? You’re welcome, BDN.
$1.6 million the Speaker of the House never paid back would help just a mite. :) But, that was just an “oversight”. Try telling them that when they knock on your door.
$1.6 million the Speaker of the House never paid back would help just a mite. :) But, that was just an “oversight”. Try telling them that when they knock on your door.
Maine smokers got taxed when they where buying smokes online and the state seemed to find out who was buying them.
Yup
The “it’s too hard” whine does not fly.
” Give Maine people a chance to compete on a level playing field and they will shine.””
I am whistle-blowing on our two state senators in this post, how the 2 Maine senators tiurned thier backs on helping ‘ Maine people and Maine businesses have a chance to compete on a level playing field’.
In 2001 the State of Maine gave WALMART ,the wealthiest company on earth, over $150 million dollars worth of State tax breaks and other government goodies to build a private building in Lewiston. The State of Maine even spent taxpayer money to build a private road for Walmart.
In that same year,2001, Lewiston’s last shoe factory was still in business. That show factory closed two years later in 2004. You see? Walmart sells ‘made in china shoes’ built with cheap overseas labor. How could a ‘made in Maine shoe factory’ compete with Walmart selling cheap China shoes AND WALMART getting tax breaks from the state of Maine.
Snow and Collins, the 2 senators said NOTHING about Walmart getting multimillions of dollars of State of Maine tax breaks and making it an uneven playing field for Maine people.. Snow and Collins both took Walmart political donations that year, and other years.
For a price, the 2 senators will sell out Maine people.
… and a sizable % of Walmart workers qualify for MaineCare and welfare because they are paid so little.
We get to keep paying for that foolishness.
Lepage has increased taxes twice already and is busy cost shifting state mandated spending onto local property tax payers.
Now he wants to raise taxes again! We already gave Lepage 1/2 a billion dollars more than we gave Baldacci to run the state. Just how much money does the Republican party want from us?
What a D.A.! The head of LL Bean has to be calling the Governor’s office right now and telling him to back off!
Lepage wants a level playing field for Maine merchants but he vetoed the bill to level the playing field for Maine workers.
Mainers have to compete with Canadian contract workers that sell their labor cheaper than American’s can because Canadians don’t have to pay taxes or insurance when they steal American jobs..
Lepage lived in Canada for many years and may still retain his Canadian citizenship.
He appears to have loyalties outside maine and even outside the US.
So much for helping small business MHPC!I doubt the zillionaires you protect have to worry about a new tax.Once again,Joe and Jane Main Street take it in the shorts.No surprise.
Let’s not forget that Saint Santorum wants to get rid of porn as well.The Bible belters won’t have anything to do all day.
Sales tax or not, most people who buy things online will continue to do so. For me, it’s not so much that there’s no sales tax when buying online, it’s the lower prices. That, along with the saving of my time and gas, is more than enough reason to continue buying online.
And before the “buy local” crowd jumps all over me, let me say this: I cannot afford to pay more money to a local business for an item I can buy at a significantly cheaper price online or at Wal-Mart. That’s the cold hard reality for most people these days. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.
The gas price factors in a lot more with my purchases these days, when the store is an hour or more away and you need something that isn’t sold locally.
This is the point right here. Every place locally never has any of the items I need. I have about a dozen dollar stores and thrift shops but if I want a damn HDMI cable I have to order online because a $3 cable costs $50 at walmart.
I do try to find local prices that are at least close for any big purchase.
I am willing to pay a little more, but not a great deal more.
I have told local merchants this on occasion and then show them what my cost would be online. Sometimes they can’t or won’t do anything but a few times I’ve gotten them to price match my full cost (where online cost includes my shipping cost).
I think it is more can’t then won’t. Take product “X” from manufacturer “Y” for example. Amazon buys 1 million product “X’s” from manufacturer “Y”, and Wee Lil Maine Store buys 100 from Manufacturer “Y”. Who is going to get the better price? If Amazon buys it for $10 a piece and Wee Lil Maine has to buy it for $50 each, who has more room to lower a price or make a deal?
Sometimes they can and do match. Other times you are probably right that they just pay more for the inventory.
The only function Congress legally has is to regulate business between the States..
I think they may have a few other functions (national defense for example).
You haven’t yet found a way to blame the “mainstream media” for this?
Curmudgeon! Shipping rates often more than offset any sales tax as far as the consumer feels it. The consumer either pays tax to one retailer or shipping to the other. The entire argument about fairness to the local retailers makes no sense. It’s not as though consumers have an obligation to shop locally. Yeah. I know, sometimes there’s no shipping for online purchases. So what? Is it fair to other retailers when a discount store such as Mardens undersells its competition? Now, if the argument was that states are in dire straits and need the sales tax, I’d still be against it. But I’d understand that argument a whole lot better.
Also some live in areas far from stores don’t have the vehicles to drive to Bangor/Waterville.This is the only way
One can often get an item shipped for free to the local store for an online item bought from a national chain. It could take longer because you have to wait for it to be routed within an existing shipping schedule, but it’s worth checking out.
I do not understand why some folks are calling an internet tax double-dipping. Under this law, only one sales tax from one state (where the article is sent) would be charged. Right now amazon collects no sales tax, so I have to keep track of all the receipts I receive from them and calculate the .05 use tax on the total of them; then report it on my 1040-ME. BUT some companies (like Lands End, based in Wisconsin, I believe) DO collect Maine Sales Tax. Why should it be so unfair or cumbersome for ALL companies to do so? You can bet there’s some innovator out there right now creating really good software just for this purpose, so the changeover should go rather smoothly. And the best part? What’s remarkable about this tax is that it’s a FAIR tax based on choice. YOU choose who to buy from, but one of the aspects of that choice should not be whether or not you’re going to wiggle out of a sales tax.
When pigs fly…
I do believe Lepage is flying to Jamaica.
No shopkeeper should be required to collect taxes for the government. If the Government wants tax money the government should be required to collect it without placing that burden on others.
REMOVE … LePAGE…..!!!!!
Why should Maine (or any State) collect “tax” on products that it doesn’t produce, or where no sales are facilitated?
When I was young, my father bought stuff at L.L. Bean’s and had it shipped to New York (to avoid Maine Sales tax.) The rule back then was if Bean’s (or any merchant) had no facilities located in New York, no sales tax needed to be collected. Sounds perfectly fair to me.
ANYWAY, I thought this governor was opposed to taxes? Maybe he is just opposed to SOME people being taxed?? Me; I shop where the items are cheap. Isn’t that what politicians are always touting… freedom?
It is a clever ruse to raise taxes while claiming not to. Technically everyone from Maine who buys out of state items and pays no tax is required to report and pay the use tax. But of course they don’t. So lePage can raise taxes and claim he did not – sine they were legally owed anyway.
As the executive branch of state government, he is charged with enforcing the law. That means even enforcing that sales tax. He is in the right here.
I just purchased jeans from the levisStore.com and paid $9.30 State sales tax….
If a vendor wants to sell something in Maine, it is obvious that a Maine sales tax is due.
As a retailer and employer here in Maine for over 15 years I applaud Gov. LePage.
Personally I would prefer no tax at all…but until then, this levels the playing field, no more tax-free Dotcom shopping.
Oh weird, a neocon using inconsistent logic.
I’m pretty sure I remember seeing something about internet sales being taxed last year and previously before that at some point in time. I’m also fairly confident that it was a democratic bill last year, that faced major opposition from Amazon. I’m sure that there are a bunch of republicans that support it as well, but you might want to look at the origins before you start claiming it’s a Tea Party platform issue.
I want to tax each dumb idea he has!
A budget balancing concept if I ever saw one!
Wow, I am amazed at some of the comments here. I hate the thought of paying sales tax on internet purchases, but I think this legislation will correct a loophole in the sales tax law. I know we are supposed to pay the “use tax” on items we purchase online and use in Maine, but I doubt most of us pay it at all, and the rest of us probably don’t pay it in full. The right thing is to pay the sales tax owed the state of Maine, and by insisting internet retailers such as Amazon collect the tax directly from consumers at the point of purchase like in-state retailers do, we are just enforcing the sales tax law’s intent.
Companies such as Walmart, who have a national physical presence as well as an online presence, collect sales tax based on the various state laws. It will not be a hardship for internet companies such as Amazon to do the same.
Republican politicians have already clearly articulated their stance on closing tax loopholes — they believe them to be new taxes. LePage is therefore advocating a new tax.
Ah, but technically that tax was already legally owed so he will wiggle and squirm and claim it is not “new”.
Okay, loophole is not really the accurate word. Let’s call it better enforcing of the current sales tax law. There really is no loophole–people are supposed to keep track and pay sales tax on items they purchase from out of state, but use in Maine. But I don’t know anyone who does, at least not with 100% honesty. LePage is attempting to enforce the current sales tax. It is no more a new tax than the income tax is on unreported income when the IRS catches up with you…
You can play with the wording all you want, but it remains the same. Screech months and years on end about “new taxes”, even ones that close loopholes or preferential avoidances (whatever you want to label them as), but then do the exact same thing.
It’s so inconsistent. I’d be outraged, but the behavior as of late is incredibly typical of Republican politicians and their greatest supporters — no principles, just convenient opportunistic slogans that hold no real weight.
You’re wrong, and thegreatwandini is right. If you can’t understand the difference between closing a loophole and enforcing current law, there’s not much point arguing with you.
You’re going to try and condescend me when you’re too lazy to scroll up and read my initial point? Here, so it’s easy for you: “Republican politicians have already clearly articulated their stance on
closing tax loopholes — they believe them to be new taxes.”
So, no, you’re wrong. And if this was a matter of simply enforcing current law, there would not be a need for more laws. Again, you’re wrong.
get this man out of office now
Never mind this start to find away to collect the tax on all these illegal drugs.sold
My wife and I purchase clothing from an out of state company. The nearest store in Maine for these items is a couple hours away and is not a small mom-n-pop store anyway. I have a friend that is trying to start a small business that will heavily depend on internet sales. Thank you State of Maine Government for being greedy with the tax collection and in this case,screwing the little guy. I thought that Lepage was for lower taxes and less Governement. Oh yeah never mind. Just another pandering politician.
The “paying field” is already level….. No one is stopping Maine businesses from selling their products online…… Am i missing something?
If an online merchant has an article priced at the exact same price (with shipping included) as the local seller then the buyer can get it for 5% less if no tax is collected This puts the local seller at a disadvantage because they have to lower their price 5% below the online seller, or lose the sale..
this gov is a basket case… we need him out of office now
I would certainly hope that, regardless of party affiliation, pressure is brought to bear on Congress to resist this tax. Government has never met a tax it didn’t like and I’m sick of politicians reaching into my pocket in order to solve an economic mess they’ve created.
I’m a not quite as old as you Mainer :) who is also pretty darn sick of the reaching into my pocket.
the following rant of mine was not originally minem and it’s a bit long but says everything I need to say about our current governent.
Politicians are the
only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against
them.
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans
are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if
all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have
inflation and high taxes?
You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The
President does.
You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote
on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don’t
write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don’t set fiscal policy,
Congress does.
You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal
Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President,
and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300
million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the
domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the
Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In
1913,
Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a
federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the
special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal
authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a
President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a
politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept
or
reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s
responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend
much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They
cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a
politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal
human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the
President for creating deficits. The President can only propose a budget. He
cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the
supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of
Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is
the speaker of the House? John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party.
He and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they
want. If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree
to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot
replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence
and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not
traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth
that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must
follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is
unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red,
it’s because they want it in the red.
If the Army & Marines are in
Iraq and Afghanistan it’s because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan
…
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement
plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that
way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these
545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they
can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to
regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take
this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there
exists
disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,”
“inflation,” or “politics” that
prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people,
and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the
power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who
are their bosses.
Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their
own employees…
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up
their mess!
Hey look ANOTHER politician who promises to help the people, but only wants to tax more to the people. So much for LePage’s promises, just another politician to go thru the system. I guess the Dems and the Repubs cant complain on this one, every politician (blue or red) are just giving it more to the little guys. Thanks Govnah.
125 comments and about 4 people understand the Marketplace Fairness Act. The rest I’m not even sure how they figure out how to log on to their computers.
They (we) get our children and grandchildren to help us log on.
Yep, another way to take our money. There never has been a politician that didn’t like finding a way to gouge more money out of us after mismanaging and wasting all the OTHER money that’s taken from us. Why not force the government (local, state and federal) to work within a budget like those of us that WORK for a living (and pay THEIR salaries, I might add)? Oh, and by the way, if you are not physically handicapped, under 60 years of age and NOT committed to a psychiatric facility, you should be working LIKE THE REST OF US. Can’t find a job? Do what those of us that DO work had to do – move to where there ARE jobs, have a little self respect and get off welfare.
Don’t we already pay that on our state income tax return?
That is what you are supposed to do, but the reality is that very few people actually do it, and the under-reporting is huge. You can’t escape sales tax at the store, and this proposal merely seeks to enforce the same for online sales. There have been talks among the states for at least a decade on this subject, google the Streamlined Sales Tax Initiative.
Wealthy people don’t shop on the internet.
Republicans, with the urging of LePage, are therefore seeking to raise taxes on everyone else. The Koch Boys must be so proud of their little marionettes.
Lapudge, tax breaks for the wealthy, tax increases for everyone else. Where are the jobs that your sign on 95 was going to bring us ?
Makes me glad I joined the Free State Project and moved to NH. Tax-free, baby…
101 Reasons to Move to NH
http://freestateproject.org/101Reasons
I love free staters!! I moved from NH to ME three years ago….
Funny, I moved from ME to NH just over three years ago.
There are a lot of things I love about Maine but the taxes and “solve everything with government” mentality are not among them. Does not look like that will change anytime soon, so I am glad I made the move.
Should have taxed it when I saw it at Amazon.
Does he really think this tax will drive more people to shop at his carp pile called Mardens? I smell kickback.
Did I read this story correctly?
My tax dime will be double dipped.
1. to raise tax revenues to keep moonbats from becoming an endangered species
2. To fund the salaries of FBI agents
Anybody want to buy some FBI cookies?
LOL ….all funded by you tax dime… If you have read this you got FBI agent cookies
you do know what to do?
Tolerated by the moonbats in Congress
The best politicians the FBI and Diebold can elect
see http://www.thelandesreport.com/Donsanto.htm
see link for full story
http://www.examiner.com/prepper-in-norfolk/fbi-launches-spying-effort-on-prepper-movement
FBI launches spying effort on ‘prepper’ movement
On Monday, the ‘prepper’ website Survivalblog.com posted the following message on the site:
“It has come to my attention that from August of 2011 to November of 2011, the FBI secretly redirected the web traffic of more than 10% of SurvivalBlog’s US visitors through CJIS, their sprawling data center situated on 900 acres, 10 miles from Clarksburg, West Virginia. There, the Feebees surreptitiously collected the IP addresses of my site visitors. In all, 4,906 of 35,494 selected connections ended up going to or through the FBI servers.”
The website states that a forensic analysis revealed that the FBI was assigning cookies to not only SurvivalBlog.com visitors, but to others who visited other websites.
“So if they had kept this practice up long enough and if you visited us enough times then the FBI’s computers would have given you a cookie. This has been verified with sniffer software,” the post states.
Our gov sucks period. Buttt……We should be paying our state sales tax on items we buy online
There already is honest places online that do collect the sales tax. Alot of them dont, and thats not right
I thought liberals were the tolerant ones,sure doesn’t come across that way on here.Guaranteed I would get banned if I posted some of the hate filled tripe you libs spew forth on here.But what else can you expect from a paper that panders to the far left.
Another way to line your pockets Lepage???
If there is going to be a sales tax charged on the internet than it should be collected by the retailer selling the product (e-bay, ect). Most people don’t pay attention to the tax part of a purchase, they take it for granted they are taxed for the product. The majority of the businesses (Apple, Sears) tax you if they have a retailer store in Maine. Who to heck pays attention to see if they are taxed. I just make sure they charge the amount they told me.
We need to tax loose cannon.
Where are all the defenders of LePage, when he’s busy raising taxes and stealing from small businesses ?
He is not “raising taxes”. He is trying to collect taxes due. This has very little to do with LePage, he’s simply trying to bring our sales tax collection mechanisms into the 21st century. There’s an article here you should read – http://www.streamlinedsalestax.org/index.php?page=faqs
In case you don’t feel like clicking on the link, here’s the 2 most salient paragraphs –
[quote]
Why was the Streamlined Sales Tax created?
The Streamlined Sales and Use
Tax was created by the National Governor’s Association (NGA) and the
National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) in the fall of 1999 to
simplify sales tax collection. According to the 2007 U.S. Census,
general sales and gross receipts comprise nearly 32 percent of total
state tax collections. The sales tax is second only to personal income
taxes as the largest source of state revenue. Leaders from the NGA and
NCSL are members of the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce that
was created when the Internet Tax Freedom Act was passed. As a result
of the work of this Commission, the leaders of those two organizations
were concerned that a 1930’s sales tax would not be relevant in 21st
century commerce. This finding resulted in the nation’s governors
directing their tax administrators to develop a simpler,
business-friendly sales tax system.
How many states have passed legislation conforming to the Agreement?
To date, twenty-four of the
forty-four states have passed the conforming legislation. Those states
have a total population of 92,781,860 representing 33% of the country’s
population. The following states that have passed legislation to
conform to the Streamlined Sale and Use Tax Agreement: Arkansas,
Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska,
Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode
Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West
Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Recently, conforming legislation
was introduced in Texas, Massachusetts, Florida, Illinois, Virginia,
Missouri, Maine, California, and Hawaii.
[/quote]
sure sounds good, tax internet sales.but,has anyone stopped to consider how many people do business on the net who would be looking for a job.if they didn’t have the net. and thats a lot of very small folks who are just trying to make enough to stay alive.I guarantee you that the amount of taxes collected would be more than offset by what would be lost.I’m with a lot of other folks,Gov, keep your trap shut on this one
More business headed overseas….Everyone will just buy from Canada and Mexico like they do for medications now……