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How Can Congress Collect Taxes In The United States?

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Retail sales taxes are one of the best ways to collect tax revenue. If the tax rates are high in one state, then a consumer can shop online to avoid excessive sales taxes in another state. This is why many states are pushing Congress to adopt legislation to make all online retailers pay sales-tax regardless of their state of operation. Sales taxes through internet transactions have become a hot topic in the political arena, and there are plenty of politicians who are in agreement of collecting taxes from the internet including Alabama. Economically there are some states that are losing a great deal of tax revenue because certain businesses that are out-of-state are not required to collect sales-tax. According to William T. Lundeen and Tracy D. Williams (2002), “Congress cannot alter the protections provided by the Due Process Clause” (p. 18). Therefore, the Supreme Court ruled on this issue in 1992, saying that out-of-state tax collectors cannot force retailers to pay taxes. …show more content…

If Congress passes a new bill, then some small businesses will have to understand and comply with an entirely different tax jurisdiction in the United States. There are some states that do not collect state income taxes who believed if Congress permits a new bill forcing businesses to collect taxes that it would be violating their Constitutional rights under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which imposes a restriction that no out-of-state companies are required to pay tax to a state without due process. According to Veronique De Rugy (2002), “Utah Republican Gov. Mike Leavitt, a key leader in the states’ effort, says, that it will dramatically improve the morass that currently exists” (p. 10). Consequently, there are forty two states that are in support of Governor Mike Leavitt requesting Congress to pass legislation to compel all companies to collect taxes on the

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