Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (
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Sparky <nemo@moon.sun.edu> wrote:
>Ogden Johnson III wrote:
>> You, like residents of most states that have sales/use taxes,
>> haven't been declaring those out of state purchase and paying the
>> use tax due on them, probably because you didn't know you were
>> supposed to.
>
>Riiiight, "didn't know you were supposed to", that's the ticket.
>
>I've long thought the "did you make any purchases out of state" question
>was a test for stupidity. Anyone who checks the "Yes" box gets socked
>with an additional $50 Stupid Tax.
>
>
Heh. I was trying to be generous. Although there's something to
be said for the philosophy "Never attribute to stupidity what
obviously is avarice." ;->
In VA, we as a business were required to submit a monthly report
on all out-of-state purchases on which sales tax was due,
including a check for the amount. Why we weren't doing it is
lost in the mists of time [it was a very, very small company, 10
employees max at our largest], but eventually the Commonwealth of
Virginia Department of Taxation sent an auditor to visit us, and
help us "remedy" the oversight. He sat in a back room for a week
going over every purchase order and invoice for the preceding 7
years. Must have cost the state $1500-$2000 in travel and per
diem for hotel room, meals, etc., over and above his normal pay.
Total delinquent use tax collection, including interest and
penalty, ~$250 bucks [even then, most of our out-of-state vendors
applied the sales/use tax in their invoices to us - this was
early in the WWW era so most were phone/mail orders]. This in a
state in which "pay as you go" was as much a state motto as "Sic
Semper Tyrannis" for over two centuries before 198mumble.
--
OJ III
[Email to Yahoo address may be burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]