|
Internet sales tax will happen in the U.S. - the U.S. is a bigger problem though, with effectively 50 territories (and thus 50 different tax codes) instead of just 15. It is all a huge mess and this is the reason it hasn't been done yet, but with bankrupt states in the U.S. (like California) it is just too tempting for the taxmen.
Pretty much all states in the U.S. already have a "use tax" which stipulates that buyers are responsible for remitting sales tax to their respective states (so if I buy something from another state, I am supposed to send the sales tax I would have paid in my state straight to the state government), but this is totally unenforcable and nobody pays it, except for some large companies.
I see no way for the EU to enforce this on U.S. companies with no EU presence, as there is no way for them to gather the data or audit companies run entirely in the U.S.
I doubt this has much if anything to do with the recent Bush VS "Old Europe" fiasco as it has been in the works for awhile.
|