Traps that aren't speed traps

[Pete from Boston]

That's great–the eight cases  of beer and fifteen bottles of vodka I plan on consuming this weekend won't get me into trouble.

[mtantillo]

As I said, it doesn't make sense to go after a guy with a bottle of beer crossing the state line when you have people bringing in truckloads that could be sold commercially.

[dfwmapper]

Guess I might have done something wrong when I brought back 12 cases of beer from that road trip I made a couple years ago. Oops.

[SidS1045]

Massachusetts does make "reasonable personal use" exceptions regarding the tranportation of alcoholic beverages - from Mass General Laws Chapter 138, Section 22:

Any person may, but only for his own use and that of his family and guests, transport alcoholic beverages or alcohol, without any license or permit, but not exceeding in amount, at any one time, twenty gallons of malt beverages, three gallons of any other alcoholic beverage, or one gallon of alcohol, or their measured equivalent; provided, that any person may, without any license or permit, transport from his place of residence to a new place of residence established by him alcoholic beverages manufactured by him for his own private use

I would suspect that other states have similar laws on their books.

Massachusetts has also made the question of enforcing alcoholic beverage tax laws moot by instituting a "pay me now or pay me later" law, where taxes owed on out-of-state purchases (which were not collected at the time of sale by either Massachusetts or another jurisdiction) must be declared on the state income tax form and paid along with any income tax owed.

[SSOWorld]

Massachusetts does make "reasonable personal use" exceptions regarding the tranportation of alcoholic beverages - from Mass General Laws Chapter 138, Section 22:

Any person may, but only for his own use and that of his family and guests, transport alcoholic beverages or alcohol, without any license or permit, but not exceeding in amount, at any one time, twenty gallons of malt beverages, three gallons of any other alcoholic beverage, or one gallon of alcohol, or their measured equivalent; provided, that any person may, without any license or permit, transport from his place of residence to a new place of residence established by him alcoholic beverages manufactured by him for his own private use

I would suspect that other states have similar laws on their books.

Massachusetts has also made the question of enforcing alcoholic beverage tax laws moot by instituting a "pay me now or pay me later" law, where taxes owed on out-of-state purchases (which were not collected at the time of sale by either Massachusetts or another jurisdiction) must be declared on the state income tax form and paid along with any income tax owed.

That's called a use tax.  Really? How is that enforced?

[J N Winkler]

That's called a use tax.  Really? How is that enforced?

Compliance is voluntary, at least in Kansas.  Taxpayers are supposed to disclose untaxed retail purchases on their income tax returns, and remit payment accordingly.  In practice there is no enforcement except for big-ticket items which are otherwise subject to licensure, such as cars or boats.

My current computer (on which I have written every one of my posts in this thread) is implicated in my last act of tax protest.  In September 2011 I wanted to buy an entry-level gaming laptop, and found a suitable one available directly from Amazon itself and also from several Amazon sellers.  Since the company has warehouse facilities in Kansas, tax would have been charged on a direct sale even if the computer had been shipped from out of state.

The state had just passed a couple of TRAP laws I profoundly disagree with and believe are unconstitutional.  So I bought my new computer from a seller in Delaware, accepting a slightly longer delivery time, specifically to prevent the state from collecting over $100 in sales tax on this purchase alone.  In the meantime, the state is obtaining the millions it needs to defend the TRAP laws partly through the special barbarity of collecting sales tax on food, for which low-income tax filers recently lost their ability to claim a rebate.

[SteveG1988]

That's called a use tax.  Really? How is that enforced?

Compliance is voluntary, at least in Kansas.  Taxpayers are supposed to disclose untaxed retail purchases on their income tax returns, and remit payment accordingly.  In practice there is no enforcement except for big-ticket items which are otherwise subject to licensure, such as cars or boats.

My current computer (on which I have written every one of my posts in this thread) is implicated in my last act of tax protest.  In September 2011 I wanted to buy an entry-level gaming laptop, and found a suitable one available directly from Amazon itself and also from several Amazon sellers.  Since the company has warehouse facilities in Kansas, tax would have been charged on a direct sale even if the computer had been shipped from out of state.

The state had just passed a couple of TRAP laws I profoundly disagree with and believe are unconstitutional.  So I bought my new computer from a seller in Delaware, accepting a slightly longer delivery time, specifically to prevent the state from collecting over $100 in sales tax on this purchase alone.  In the meantime, the state is obtaining the millions it needs to defend the TRAP laws partly through the special barbarity of collecting sales tax on food, for which low-income tax filers recently lost their ability to claim a rebate.

New Jersey has the same issue except finding a place that doesn't have a warehouse or some sort of facility in the state is hard.

New Egg...Check

MicroCenter...Check

Amazon...Check

TigerDirect/their various brands...Check

The list goes on. If there was a place to buy computers in my town i would, 3.5% sales tax vs the standard 7.

[SidS1045]

Really? How is that enforced?

As I suspect you already know, it's unenforceable, or at least it's only enforceable to the same extent that having State Police cars stop and cite drivers who purchased liquor out of state was.  Pretty window dressing that doesn't change a damned thing.