Dear Editor, Hi! One of your elderly readers here noticing a point missing from the discussion about the Internet Sales Tax scheme.
Since 1984 South Carolina has had a two-tiered sales tax: Five percent for consumers aged 85 or older and six percent for everybody under 85.
Consider the complication of old people trying to get a state sales tax break on purchases via the Internet from some outfit in Podunk-on-the-Hustings!
The elder buyer would have to scan and send a picture of his/ her ID and the company would have to re-calculate the order to provide the lawful one precent tax break.
Talk about a drag on the economy!
Does Amazon know what’s coming when it has to start collecting South Carolina sales tax?
Granted, there aren’t all that many old-timers who ask for their tax break, but it’s $1.00 saved on every $100.00 spent. Adds up! There are roughly 77,000 of us mid-octogenarians and older in South Carolina and many of us still have our wits about us and have no desire to overpay on our taxes.
Keep the pressure on.
John Wrisley
Columbia, S.C.
SIC SEZ
John – Thanks so much for sharing this. You are absolutely right. This is yet another reason to let incumbent “Republican” Lindsey Graham know that raising internet taxes is a bad idea.
40 comments
Well said, Mr Wrisley and Will!
Of course the, “We just can’t give the government enough of our money to squander”, bunch will find something in this to disagree with.
Hi there, John! It’s good to know you are well and still kicking! My compliments to you for your excellent grammar, spelling and complete sentences. Can you enlighten Sic’s younger readers how you were taught to pronounce — “HARASS” ?
He doesn’t have time for you, he’ll miss the early bird special at the K&W if you insist on bothering him.
:)
Maybe WIS-TV will bring him back out of retirement…. now that there seems to be a vacancy….
Easy now, they already have one creepy old fart (Papa Joe Penner) on payroll.
Hi there Sic. It’s good to know you can still bring out the cast of characters to make it appear that this site has some vitality when the click count is sinking. It’s clear why it’s dwindling. Be something, be anything, buy don’t be boring darling, because that is what this site has become.
What does Mr. Wrisley do when he buys something at WalMart? He shows his ID to get his penny discount.
What does he do when he uses the UT3 worksheet to calculate his use tax on all of his Internet purchases so he can fill out Line 26 on his SC1040? Is that more work than telling Amazon how old he is?
He does what 95% of us do, he puts a big zero on line 26.(or his accountant does)
Whole point seems bassackwards. Why should you pay less tax in the first place? Tired of the old, “these poor seniors on their fixed incomes”. Most of the state is on fixed , or rather declining incomes. It’s called their effing salary. Seniors have have had decades to save it, invest it, or piss it away. They have social safety nets younger citizens do not ( no, you didn’t pay for all YOUR Medicare coverage already) .
It really seems like a joke of a tax break to be honest, but oh well. It was rare to see anyone actually take advantage of it when I was in retail.
I’d be surprised to see an 85-year-old successfully order something off of Amazon, to be honest. (No offense to you old folks, but the elderly and technology is more often than not like oil and water.)
Uh, my mom is 79, reads veraciously, and buys all of her books on her Kindle Fire. I hope she will still be doing so at 85.
So when do you plan on moving out of your mom’s house?
That was a good one!
Actually she would need to move out of mine. But we are all happy the way things are. Mom and Dad put me through school without student loans. I figure I owe them a lot. Thank you for your concern. I’ll pass it along.
They are far smarter than you think they are. In fact, they consider the younger people the dopes. Maybe, rightfully so.
Thirty years ago, the SC sales tax form was a coupon, now it is a dozen pages. I suggest SC do away with all exemptions except items bought for resale, including the ridiculous $ 300 cap on automobile. Then our statewide rate would be around 2-3%. But the Automobile Dealers Association/Lobby own our elected officials, so this will never happen, despite the fact “sales tax never stopped anyone from buying anything”.
People bitch about that $300 cap on automobile sales tax like it’s something only the ultra-rich benefit from. Fact of the matter is, it benefits just about ANYbody buying a new car in this day and time. If you buy a car for $15,000 and pay just a 6% sales tax on it, that would be $900. That’s an extra $600 you’re getting slammed for that the politicians get to squander on their cronies and themselves. $15K is about a low end on a new car in this day and time. If you buy one that costs $25,000, at a 6% tax rate, you’d be paying $1,500 if there were no cap on automobile sales taxes.
Of course, some of you apparently are made of money and have no problem giving everything you have to some dipshit politician to squander on himself or his cronies.
But they make it up on the annual tag renewal. It’s crazy to have to pay $200+ for tags on a 10+ year old vehicle. Other states who don’t have sales tax caps charge $25 per year per passenger vehicle for tags.
And in some of those state property taxes on your home is two, three even four times as high as it is here.
My point is do away with all exemptions and the cap on automobiles. Then the SC sales tax rate would be 2-3% (this doesn’t include Local Option, Capital Projects, etc.).
True – a lot of people benefit from the $ 300 cap on auto’s, but more would benefit if there was no cap. As I said “sales tax never stopped anyone from buying anything”.
And how long do you think if will stay at 2 to 3? It won’t be a year until they will want to raise it another penny. You know it is just a penny and no one will miss it. They never tell you that if is a 33% increase or more.
+1
Of course if you old farts would agree to give up your Social Security and Medicare, we would not need that sales tax and you would not have to worry about it.
If you young whippersnappers would give up the Internet (and our fucking LAWN!) we would not have to contend with your impertinence. Dickhead.
An elephant never forgets, just remember what you have said when you’re an old fart. By then you may have gained some wisdom.
If we can ever get a Republican President and Republicans in charge of both houses of Congress I am hoping they will do what they promise and take the opportunity to get rid of those programs. That is why we need Paul Ryan to run for President. People need to take care of themselves.
I remember life and sales tax before Medicare, do you?
I don’t disagree that people need to take care of themselves but if you think Republicans will or can get rid of “those programs” you are living in la la land.
Never confuse motion with action. ~Benjamin Franklin
Nah, my dad would have been a kid then. But I am sure people had it better than they do today. They had the ability to buy private insurance to cover their needs. That has been wiped out. Now they are force to take Medicare.
No one is forced to take Medicare.
I think that it would have been much better if the government had not deducted those SS taxes from me, all those years, and required my employer to pay too. I could have invested it better than they did and maybe the employer could have paid me more.
Did you invest even though you paid into SS, I hope so. If all you have now is SS or SS waiting for you your internet days will be coming to an end.
Tax free Kevorkian suicide machines for anyone 75 and older
I guess it’s tough to do 2 for 1 specials with suicide machines, ain’t it?
Couples special.
He needs to post that comment on the “Sleep Naked” article.
tax naked sleeping?
Nicely done!
Medicare Part B alone is going to break the balls for new retirees. There won’t be any money left for food. The new retirement formula is this: a net worth of 20 million dollars with three revenue streams in separate consumer sectors, guarded and nimble positions in bonds and equities, and your own “cash only” group private medical staff. You guys and gals in the public sector are going to race to the bottom faster than your private sector counterparts. The 90% is going to experience bone crushing poverty for their retirement. I give it 5 more election cycles to get set up as a 10%er…far away from the 90% as you can get!
You nailed it Pop. They’ll can’t see their hands in front of them..
I don’t know how this is enforceable. Photo ID must be provided at time of purchase (in-person). It would be too easy for a cheater to send in a fake ID to get the discount.
Second, SC DOR requires a sign at the place of business to notify the customer of the discount. Just how would that work for online purchases?