| The idea of more fairly enforcing the sales tax code, through making efforts to collect from certain e-tailers who, technically, should be paying sales taxes in NYS, was not left on the table long enough for there to be much discussion about it. I can certainly understand why Spitzer needed to do that from a political perspective. But, as I am not running for any office, I take no risks in openly discussing the policy issues around collecting sales taxes in NY. Fact is, sales tax as a source of revenue is NOT keeping up. And, as expenses for the state and counties are continuing to rise, well, that makes a hole that must be filled somehow (and please, NY, not by borrowing and hoping for a better year next year).
According to a recent Gannett Albany Bureau story, 37 out of the 57 counties outside NYC have experienced a lower sales tax collection this October than October 2006. The article shows several counties in my region with very weak (below inflation) increases for year-to-date over last year at this time, and one with a substantial decrease. Some counties are adjusting their budgets downward to compensate. |
| Now, there are lots of possible reasons for decreasing sales tax revenues. People may very well be spending more of their paycheck on food, as food prices have increased with the price of petroleum. Heat, as well as the interest paid on mortgages and consumer debt, may also be taking a bigger chunk of take-home pay... and health care costs are also rising faster than inflation. But, in addition, people are buying more things on-line than they used to. Is the answer to the sales tax decline to enforce existing laws that would require some e-tailers to participate in the collection and remmittance of NYS sales tax?
Some retailers agree with those who think this would be a fair move (if not, admittedly, a popular one). I have a hard time favoring any sales tax at all-- it is a particularly regressive tax form, in my opinion-- but, I would have to say that the collection of sales tax from e-tailers is much more fair-sounding to me than the collection of sales taxes from Native American merchants operating in their own nations. And, of course, the counties are also seeing impacts from this.... and, I surely do not want to see more emphasis placed on NYS's property tax as the means by which we operate our counties. What to do, what to do. With NYC in our state, the state could make out like a bandit by being the first state in the Union to institute a Tobin Tax-- fair, targetted for maximum progressivity, and a healthy tonic for a world drunk on speculative capital movements. Ah, but that is just me dreaming. So, in a more practical frame, maybe collecting sales tax more equitably is the right move. Or, better ideas? The poll below lists some other alternatives-- check all and any that you think are better than the sales tax inclusivity move. |
