[speaker002:] so let's talk about the uh wonderful abuses in the State of Pennsylvania of personal property taxes whereby you can purchase something mail order and after the fact the State of Pennsylvania can find out about it and send you a bill for the sales tax appropriate to that item that you purchased as well as interest and penalties from the time that you bought it what do you think is Pennsylvania kind of out of line there
[speaker001:] well actually I don't think they're out of line Devil's Devil's advocate possibly but it you are trying to avoid paying taxes and whether whether or not you agree with that law it you're still circumventing it you are legal in in your circumvention of that law
[speaker002:] what what if you're not doing it in order to circumvent the law though I mean what if you don't even realize that you're subject to paying um income tax on something that you purchase mail order
[speaker001:] uh really I I I don't think that's a valid argument I think that most people are quite aware they're not paying that six percent sales tax um some naturally some some things you just can't find in your local KMart or or um Bryn Mawr stereo dealer um but then then then why not pay pay the sales tax to Pennsylvania corporations have to why should an individual just because it's just because the state can't really find out about it be able to avoid paying sales tax
[speaker002:] well I mean it seems to me that generally at least in my own experience when I purchase something mail order it's not to circumvent paying sales tax to the State of Pennsylvania it's because I'm sorry the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania uh it's because I I can't find the item that I want at a competitive price anywhere in my local area so I go outside the area for that
[speaker001:] yes
[speaker002:] and I think that it's not my responsibility to police myself and pay Pennsylvania what they believe they are owed even though you know the revenue stream went to another state I don't I don't think that that's my responsibility as a as a conscientious consumer
[speaker001:] I I'll agree it it's not your responsibility but is but is it also legal for you to do that what what from from what I understand from various various various net readings it it it the federal government is going to try to legislate a more aggressive enforcement of state tax schemes um in into place in the next few years it is it is a lost revenue stream right now and states can can use all the revenue they can get with some with something like that will do your arguments still apply
[speaker002:] well I think that if if policy is established and if a mechanism is put into place to promote the collection of taxes in this fashion then I don't argue with it because it's not a burden on the consumer to remember that oh I bought this out of state I need to Xerox the receipt and make out a check for six percent and send it to Pennsylvania
[speaker001:] which is exactly what businesses do at the present
[speaker002:] right but the point is is that businesses do that the business that you purchase the thing from is responsible for collecting the appropriate sales tax and forwarding it to the state in question that's a cost of doing business the burden shouldn't be placed on the consumer
[speaker001:] and I I I was actually talking about businesses purchasing something mail order and then having having to pay sales tax on it
[speaker002:] ah
[speaker001:] that's my understanding of the way um the way it works usually the the person ordering it doesn't pay but the accounting department will uh suck up all the bills at the end of the month and realize how much they have to pay and there reasons there are some some substantial nasty penalties um if you if businesses try to avoid that
[speaker002:] uh do you mean businesses from the point of view as of of selling things to a consumer and then being responsible for the sales tax
[speaker001:] a as if no businesses um if
[speaker002:] or purchasing
[speaker001:] purchasing things mail order if I if I'm a computer consulting firm and I see these this great deal on forty eighty six motherboards uh from from say Utah um I I might buy the motherboards from Utah but then still have to pay some Pennsylvania sales tax my apartment accounting department will at the end of the month uh I think that I think that's the way things work in Pennsylvania and I know they work that way in uh say here in DC
[speaker002:] yeah see I'm unfamiliar with that because I don't I never see that end of the business
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] so my only experience has been from the point of view of a consumer um but if that's the case if the business is responsible for policing themselves then I think some well defined mechanisms need to be in place so that um the opportunity for to forget that you owe sales tax for something uh can be avoided
[speaker001:] that's true is is a real a big hole does exist right now uh in that consumers can just say oh I I forgot that there there is no well defined mechanism at all and and that it is a a a loss I I think is that the federal government will try to establish a mechanism just just to do just that in order in order to gain the revenue that's being lost um and I I don't know if I agree with that but it but