Governor Spitzer should call for a permanent Internet sales tax holiday.
Reader comment on: Spitzer's Christmas Tax Surprise

Submitted by Bruce Hahn, Nov 27, 2007 20:52

Instead of trying to extract more taxes from Internet commerce, Governor Spitzer should instead ask the legislature to enact a permanent Internet sales tax holiday.

Clearly there is precedent for varying sales tax rates. Many state and local governments offer sales tax holidays for back-to-school expenses. They exempt some types of purchases from sales tax, such as prescription drugs, and tax other goods, like alcohol and tobacco, at higher rates.

A permanent Internet sales tax holiday would encourage more New Yorkers to buy products online rather than driving to the mall. Let the postal delivery person, Fedex, or UPS deliver the products instead - they'll are coming down my street anyway.

Why would we want to encourage shopping online? How about less traffic, less gasoline consumption, and less air pollution. That would also result in savings on the maintenance and expansion of the state's transportation infrastructure and lower healthcare costs as a result of a cleaner environment. The latter would also help offset the reduction in sales tax revenues.

Such legislation would also reflect the sentiments of most constituent homeowners and other consumers, who in public opinion surveys consistently oppose Internet sales taxes. So how about it, Governor Taxcutter? Here's an unpopular tax you can cut that would reduce pollution, traffic jams, healthcare costs, and transportation infrastructure costs.

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
It's easy to see why politicians would want to pick the fruit that seems to be right in front of... [MORE]	UniqueContent	Feb 15, 2008 13:44
My heart goes out to all New Yorkers; history has shown that they are a benevolent group, who face adversity... [MORE]	Mark Hill	Nov 30, 2007 10:36
Instead of trying to extract more taxes from Internet commerce, Governor Spitzer should instead ask the legislature to enact a...	Bruce Hahn	Nov 27, 2007 20:52
Point of sale sales tax has been the norm for many years. Now it is a new age and the... [MORE]	Martin Collard	Nov 15, 2007 11:25
↔ This is just wrong in my opinion. They're already taking about 60% of our income. Now they want to take... [MORE]	chris	Feb 6, 2008 18:10
↔ While I understand why Governor Spitzer would like to gain additional revenue from Internet sales, the loop hole they are... [MORE]	casey Dougall	Nov 15, 2007 09:26
↔ Things like this make me proud to call myself a "New York Refuge." I left the state in 1995 and... [MORE]	Bill	Nov 15, 2007 07:36
↔ Saw this link on www.polijam.com Spitzer must be worried that his popularity it too high (at 40%, I gather).... [MORE]	brooke	Nov 14, 2007 22:53
↔ Mr Spitzer has not had enough SHAME by proposing to give ILLEGAL ALIANS free passes and free drivers licenses. Now,... [MORE]	Tom	Nov 14, 2007 18:38
↔	CDLA	Nov 14, 2007 18:12
↔ LIKE THE SIMILAR FOOLISH MOVES BY SPITZER to GIVE ILLEGAL ALIANS FREE PASSES AND FREE LICENSES, MR. SPIT now seems... [MORE]	Mr. Jim Onzine	Nov 14, 2007 17:49
↔ Many of the larger operations will gladly collect sales tax for a reasion that many do not realize: Buisnesses charging... [MORE]	fp1201	Nov 14, 2007 17:46
↔	Art Wlodarek	Nov 14, 2007 17:00
↔	tom	Nov 14, 2007 16:53
↔ Governor Spitzer has (once again) underscored the very reason I left the State of New York so many years ago.... [MORE]	RV Horth	Nov 14, 2007 16:35
↔	Drew	Nov 14, 2007 16:28
↔	Paul Chambers	Nov 14, 2007 16:20
↔	Ed	Nov 14, 2007 16:15
↔ Does this guy not listen to Americans? We said we don't want illegal aliens getting drivers licenses. Now the biggest... [MORE]	Sloane Volpe	Nov 14, 2007 16:07
↔ Closing loopholes. Why don't you decrease the pay you receive instead of increasing what we have to pay. My husband... [MORE]	Linda Cooper	Nov 14, 2007 16:06
↔ ↔ This state has got so bad we go with out meds, cant get kero for furnace cost $600 for 150... [MORE]	Doris	Nov 30, 2007 11:34
↔ ↔ I sure am glad that I moved out of the great tax state of New York . Looks like your... [MORE]	mark	Nov 14, 2007 15:53
↔ ↔	DCSmith	Nov 14, 2007 15:34
↔ ↔	Jeremy Barlow	Nov 14, 2007 15:25
↔ ↔	Joe	Nov 14, 2007 15:21
↔ ↔	Rich	Nov 14, 2007 15:18
↔ ↔ For someone who said that they would not raise taxes has found another way to hit the worker. Tax the... [MORE]	thomas selover	Nov 14, 2007 14:37
↔ ↔ When I retired the choice to move south was easy. With the taxes in New York going up up the... [MORE]	Lawrence Brown	Nov 14, 2007 14:25
↔ ↔ I would think that New York state government would see that we are taxed to our eyeballs, we are among... [MORE]	Connie Stock	Nov 14, 2007 14:25
↔ ↔ Long and short of it Spitzer should be kicked out of office. If I lied on my job I would... [MORE]	Daniel Glatz	Nov 14, 2007 14:04
↔ ↔	Flavious_Maximus	Nov 14, 2007 13:23
↔ ↔ Love Elliot Spitzer's continued efforts to put it too his constituents. First a proposal to give Divers Lisences to illegals,... [MORE]	Chris Daniels	Nov 14, 2007 13:20
↔ ↔	LeChat	Nov 14, 2007 13:20
↔ ↔ Another case of New York being the loser state that it is. This state ruins things for everyone. Highest Taxes,... [MORE]	Honyerry	Nov 14, 2007 13:09
↔ ↔	Max Volume	Nov 14, 2007 13:07
↔ ↔	Taxed to Death	Nov 14, 2007 10:51
↔ ↔ Sooner or later people will learn that electing democrats will mean less money in your pocket. But, where is the... [MORE]	Scott Wiggins	Nov 14, 2007 07:25
↔ ↔	Art Fougner MD	Nov 14, 2007 06:48