From: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 10:56:40 +0800
To: Mac Norton <mnorton@cavern.uark.edu>
Subject: Re: "Time to Walk the Walk down the Gang Plank"
In-Reply-To: <v03102801aff4655f3759@[207.167.93.63]>
Message-ID: <v03102801aff48a1390fc@[207.167.93.63]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



At 7:36 PM -0700 7/17/97, Mac Norton wrote:
>On Thu, 17 Jul 1997, Tim May wrote:
>>
>> Taxes are already essentially uncollectable, even in interstate
>> transactions, so the moves by Summers and Magaziner are truly token
>> gestures.
>
>
>Uh, Tim, corporate and personal income taxes are still rather
>well collectible, and that my be the reason the federal gov't
>doesn't worry too much about taxing the Net. State, and even
>more so local, gov'ts do not have the same collectibility
>advantage.  And the locals are often revenue-starved and

I meant that taxes are essentially uncollectable for interstate
transactions like mail order purchases.

I buy several thousand dollars worth of stuff each year by mail order, and
only a few hundred bucks worth of it has been taxable.

My state, California thinks I should either send them a check for 8.25% of
all that I have purchased, or that the vendors in New Hampshire, Ohio, etc.
should send them such a check....we all ignore this notion, and there is
little to be done. It is this sort of "tax arbitrage" I was drawing a very
real parallel to.

Most "tax the Net" talk I hear about is about taxing Net commerce (as
opposed to, say, placing a per minute tariff on Net connections). Hence, my
point.

I wasn't referring to either corporate or personal income taxes, which have
little or nothing to do with the Net.

--Tim May


There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1398269     | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."