Monday, November 23, 2009

Vicksburg Evening Post: Tax everyone else but us

Well, Charlie Mitchell, Executive Editor of the Vicksburg Post, wants Mississippi to implement an internet sales tax. He opines:
"Through 2007, a University of Tennessee study showed Mississippi had already lost out on $624 million in sales taxes on e-commerce and would miss out on another $462 million in 2008. Online holiday retail sales will grow 8 percent this year to $44.7 billion nationwide, predicts Forrester Research. Mississippi is losing about $500 million this year - or about 7 percent of all sales taxes due.
An interesting aspect of that number is that it's approximately equal to the amount the state budget is predicted to fall short by the end of June.
There's nothing the Legislature in Mississippi or any other state can do about this. Only Congress can change the law..." Column

However, there is one little thing Mr. Mitchell leaves out of his love letter to the tax man: newspapers are exempt from sale taxes:
"The tax levied by this chapter shall not apply to the following:
(b) Sales of daily or weekly newspapers, and periodicals or publications of scientific, literary or educational organizations exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as it exists as of March 31, 1975, and subscription sales of all magazines." Section 27-65-111 of the Mississippi Code.

Perhaps Mr. Mitchell should lead by example and lobby for his own taxes to be raised before he raises our taxes instead of mooching off of the rest of us.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good Job, Kingfish !!!

Anonymous said...

I'll betcha Charlie Mitchell knows more about taxation than Donna Ladd knows about mammography and breast cancer.

Anonymous said...

Do we really care about taxing newspapers???!!!! What is your issue here?

Anonymous said...

the issue is hypocrisy, which most of us recognize when we see it (the deluded probably won't).

Was it Ben Franklin who said:

"Don't tax you,
Don't tax me;
Tax the fellow
behind the tree"?

Anonymous said...

Well, Charlie Mitchell, you pay my shipping and handling and I'll pay the sales tax!

Kingfish said...

I just think if he wants to raise our taxes and get rid of exemptions he should lead the way and demand the state remove his.

Anonymous said...

Kingfish,

Do you think it is a good idea to remove the exemptions for e-commerce?

Do you think it is a good idea to remove the exemptions for newspapers?

Apples and Oranges.

I would say yes to the former and no to the latter. And so would many other people that have no stake in the newspaper business.

I think you are a little too eager to take a cheap shot at Charlie. He wrote a good article. Come on, you are better than this.

Kingfish said...

Cheap shot?

I'm dead serious. I'm tired of the newspapers always wanting to raise taxes on everyone else. They never favor tax cuts and claim there is no spending to cut, its ALWAYS taxes.

Well, they SHOULD lead by example. They want to start removing sale tax exemptions, fine, lets start by removing their own.

Anonymous said...

10% flat tax on income does it. its race, income, class neutral. but thats too easy. maybe after everything is good and broken we can start doing things the logical way

Anonymous said...

It amazes me that columns deemed worthy of comment aren't deemed worthy of reading. There was no advocacy of making collection of sales tax on internet purchases universal. The point of the article was that while legislatures might like to tax e-commerce, Congress holds the key and isn't interested. As for the exemption of newspapers and other periodicals in Mississippi, the papers receive no benefit, just as druggists don't benefit from the exemption of prescription meds or grocery stores for the exemption of food purchased with food stamps. Sales taxes are pass-through taxes. Newspapers are exempt because they're cheap and this state like most others decided it would cost too much to try to collect, not as a favor to the printed press. Oh, and it's "The Vicksburg Post. "Evening" and "Sunday" were dropped from the name 14 years ago. Charlie

Kingfish said...

1. I am fully aware of the name change but I still refer to it as such because I just plain prefer to do so. It was a perfectly good name and nothing to be ashamed of.

2. No one said your column wasn't worthy of reading. If I thought it wasn't, I wouldn't have even mentioned it.

3. I am aware sales tax are pass through and that the cost of a sales tax is passed on to a customer. However, the same argument can be made for an internet sales tax. My position is if newspapers are going to lobby for or heavily report in favor of implementing an internet sales tax then I think its fair to remove their exemption even if its just pennies per paper or there are ease of collection issues.

4. Maybe you didn't advocate it but it sure seemed that way since you went out of your way to point out how much money Mississippi was losing on sales tax revenue and what such a tax possibly could do for state finances. That was not just a column about Congress holding the keys but an effort to lobby the public to push for changes in the law so that Mississippi's budget crisis could be eased. I'm not the only one who read it that way either.



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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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