Comments on: New laws http://seattle.metblogs.com/2008/06/30/new-laws/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:15:38 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Jenny DB http://seattle.metblogs.com/2008/06/30/new-laws/comment-page-1/#comment-15215 Jenny DB Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:19:04 +0000 http://seattle.metblogs.com/2008/06/30/new-laws/#comment-15215 Hmm.. well with our e-commerce sites (both use zencart) we charge sales tax in Washington state and now are legally obligated to charge variable sales tax for WA state depending on regions. Super difficult as you say christy, because turns out the sales taxes are not even consistent within some zipcodes!! So.. could have it custom coded based on... lat/long? what a nightmare! I think we're going to take our chances for now until the open-source community's good graces catch up:) Hmm.. well with our e-commerce sites (both use zencart) we charge sales tax in Washington state and now are legally obligated to charge variable sales tax for WA state depending on regions. Super difficult as you say christy, because turns out the sales taxes are not even consistent within some zipcodes!! So.. could have it custom coded based on… lat/long? what a nightmare! I think we’re going to take our chances for now until the open-source community’s good graces catch up:)

]]> By: christyv http://seattle.metblogs.com/2008/06/30/new-laws/comment-page-1/#comment-15113 christyv Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:13:33 +0000 http://seattle.metblogs.com/2008/06/30/new-laws/#comment-15113 Ah, I see. Although you weren't being charged sales tax by online vendors previously, you were always supposed to pay "use tax" on the items. Most people didn't though. Ah, I see. Although you weren’t being charged sales tax by online vendors previously, you were always supposed to pay "use tax" on the items. Most people didn’t though.

]]> By: wesa http://seattle.metblogs.com/2008/06/30/new-laws/comment-page-1/#comment-15101 wesa Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:40:15 +0000 http://seattle.metblogs.com/2008/06/30/new-laws/#comment-15101 I was mostly referring to online vendors that do not have a physical presence in the state. Those companies did not have to charge WA residents sales tax, and it was a great way to pick up expensive electronics for my husband and I. Now, many retailers are going to start charging sales tax or have to pay back taxes if the state decides to sue. I was mostly referring to online vendors that do not have a physical presence in the state. Those companies did not have to charge WA residents sales tax, and it was a great way to pick up expensive electronics for my husband and I. Now, many retailers are going to start charging sales tax or have to pay back taxes if the state decides to sue.

]]> By: christyv http://seattle.metblogs.com/2008/06/30/new-laws/comment-page-1/#comment-15099 christyv Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:19:52 +0000 http://seattle.metblogs.com/2008/06/30/new-laws/#comment-15099 Online vendors in WA only have to collect destination based sales tax for orders within Washington state. It's still a pain because none of the online tools accommodate this -- such as PayPal. For example, in PayPal you can only specify tax at a zip code level, but WA uses multiple sales tax rates within zip codes. And there's something like 35,000 different rates, making it almost impossible to charge the correct sales tax per destination. This pretty much screws small business. Fun! Online vendors in WA only have to collect destination based sales tax for orders within Washington state.

It’s still a pain because none of the online tools accommodate this — such as PayPal. For example, in PayPal you can only specify tax at a zip code level, but WA uses multiple sales tax rates within zip codes. And there’s something like 35,000 different rates, making it almost impossible to charge the correct sales tax per destination. This pretty much screws small business. Fun!

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