re: New Louisiana law aims to get taxes owed by online shoppers

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You need to have a system in place before , retroactive taxes always cause so much anger

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Louisiana has required taxpayers to report their un-taxed online purchases on their state income tax returns for years.

It's not new nor is it retroactive.

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I just saw this post. Are you serious? Dude, best buy is the worst. If you want anything other than a tv or a computer, say cables or connectors or anything like they, the super duper salespeople like yourself almost always say "order it online".

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Pretty sure this was satire.

How am I supposed to get my money back for items I’ve been taxed on but returned back to the store? The State doesn’t take that into consideration from what I understand.

This is why we need a new state constitution! The tax situation in this state is so screwed up we need to whipe it all out and start anew. Get rid of income tax, eliminate sales tax, remove the homestead exemption, and operate the state on a stable tax that is easy to calculate and enforce, property tax.

ITT the OT discovers use tax.

If I learned anything from countless threads on tigerdroppings about marijuana and immigration, it's that if a law is on the books the government should enforce it. Kudos to Louisiana for enforcing their use tax law.

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How am I supposed to get my money back for items I’ve been taxed on but returned back to the store?

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You show a credit (return) to your un-taxed purchases on your records. That reduces your tax liability from your other purchases.

It's just like you returning an item to a brick and mortar store and your refund includes the sales taxes you paid at the time of purchase.

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I'm curious how the retailer determines the purchaser. For instance if my sister buys something using my Amazon Prime account on her credit card will the retailer submit to the state that I made the purchase or her?

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Who pays the sales tax if your sister in law uses your credit card to buy something for herself and then repays you for the purchase?

If she uses your Amazon account it's your purchase. It's up to you to settle up with your sis-in-law to get your money back. You pay the sales tax and she refunds your out of pocket expense for you having to pay it.

As President W. Bush once said, "This ain't rocket surgery!"

How are they really going to prove you bought stuff online unless they audit every citizen in Louisiana?

Yes, you are suppose to pay taxes on items you receive inside this state.

Bigger online retailers like amazon may have a system which can show the state who bought what.
Smaller sites are the ones I can see someone getting around the taxes.

I can see this still being hard to track unless they audit individuals.

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How are they really going to prove you bought stuff online unless they audit every citizen in Louisiana?

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Nah, they only have to get a list of the purchasers with a Louisiana address from the online retailers.

Then just go after the ones with the largest amounts purchased and who didn't declare the purchases on their La. Form 540 during the year charging them with tax fraud.

The last step will be for the Department of Revenue to publicize the tax fraud charges against those taxpayers who didn't pay their sales taxes and that will get everyone's attention.

For years I've kept a simple Excel spreadsheet for my online, un-taxed purchases. I use it to complete my La income tax return and I always include a print out of the Excel pages with my tax return listing my purchase data although that's not a requirement of the return.

Who cares if we shop online? Here are a few reasons why we do:
1. 9.99 times out of 10, online is considerably cheaper.
2. Usually there is not a "local" retailer in the area and sometimes not even in this state.
3. Convenience AND availability of product.

I see this as simply a result of little to no manufacturing industry in this state. How many times I go to "local" business' and ask for a particular item and get told they can "order" it. Well hell I can "order" it. Just typical Louisiana politics. Collect more taxes to fatten somebody's wallet. Damn sure ain't to repair roads. Shittiest roads in the country.