eMoviePoster.com

This is a VERY significant event for all internet businesses, including eMoviePoster.com. What is it? On 6/21/18, the U.S. Supreme Court (in a narrow 5 to 4 decision) decided that the 50 U.S. states can charge sales tax on sales made from one state to another, even when the seller does not have a "physical presence" in that state (which was the old standard).

This was a giant "win" for huge corporations like Wal-Mart and Amazon, which already had a "physical presence" in all or most states, so they were already charging sales tax on Internet purchases. It is a giant "loss" for any merchant who only had a "physical presence" in one state (like eMoviePoster.com) and who do enough business in many states that they will now have to collect sales tax from their buyers (see below).

It is also a "loss" for U.S. buyers, who now must pay sales tax on many Internet purchases. Taxes (both state and federal) are already at record highs. Those state and federal governments keep spending more and more money, and they will keep adding more and more taxes, and raising the ones they already have (and it is virtually a guarantee that over time the limits of the amount of business done that triggers sales taxes will lower and lower until eventually EVERY internet sale requires sales tax to be paid).

But from the sellers' point of view, there is something that is much worse than the added cost of the sales tax, which is the fact that 50 states are passing 50 separate laws, with 50 different sets of requirements! And of course, sales tax varies not only from state to state, but from county to county, and sellers will now have to collect differing amounts of sales tax from every one of them (and there will be no software that covers it all, since there are different limits in every state).

Chief Justice John Roberts covered this aspect in part of his dissent:

"The Court, for example, breezily disregards the costs that its decision will impose on retailers, especially small businesses. Correctly calculating and remitting sales taxes on all e-commerce sales will likely prove baffling for many retailers. Over 10,000 jurisdictions levy sales taxes, each with “different tax rates, different rules governing tax-exempt goods and services, different product category definitions, and different standards for determining whether an out-of-state seller has a substantial presence” in the jurisdiction."

See a full summary of the Supreme Court decision here: https://www.eidebailly.com/insights/articles/2018/7/states-respond-to-scotus-wayfair and see the decision itself here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/17-494_j4el.pdf

So far, some states have passed legislation, and every one passed thus far is extremely vague confusing and very difficult to comply with. Here is a list of what states have passed what legislation so far (but this list is sure to be updated on a regular basis, as more and more states pass legislation):

https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2018/06/26/dissecting-supreme-courts-internet-sales-tax-decision/#37fe54563fbe

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR EMOVIEPOSTER.COM BUYERS?

1) If you live OUTSIDE the U.S. (and also if you live in one of the few states without a sales tax), you are not affected.

2) If you are a U.S. dealer who is purchasing for resale, and have a properly completed up to date resale certificate for your state, you are not affected.

3) If you live in a state which has not yet passed legislation on this issue, then you are not affected FOR NOW.

4) If you live in a smaller state where eMoviePoster.com does few transactions, you are not affected FOR NOW.

5) If your purchases are shipped to another country, or if your purchases are shipped to a smaller state where eMoviePoster.com does few transactions, you are not affected FOR NOW.

BUT IF YOU LIVE IN ONE OF THE STATES THAT HAS ALREADY PASSED LEGISLATION, AND IF THAT IS A STATE WHERE EMOVIEPOSTER.COM DOES ENOUGH TRANSACTIONS THAT YOU HAVE TO BEGIN PAYING SALES TAX, THEN WE WILL BE EMAILING YOU THIS WEEK, TO TELL YOU THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO BEGIN PAYING SALES TAXES (and as we said, this varies state by state, so we will send different emails to our customers from each state).

What makes this SO dreadful is that there is every possibility that states will retroactively change their legislations, especially if, as we strongly suspect, these new taxes prove to both be extremely unpopular AND to drive some smaller businesses out of business. So we don't want to invest heavily into new software that may become instantly outdate when new laws are passed and old ones are changed.

This proves one thing to us, which is that these laws are almost without exception passed by legislators who never worked a day in their life at a "for-profit" business (and surely never owned one). All they see are the added revenues new taxes bring in, and they don't see the hardships they add to business owners already struggling to survive against mega-corporations which receive all kinds of tax breaks from their cronies in the federal and state legislatures.

THERE IS ONE IMPORTANT ITEM TO ADD: Because of the bizarre structures of these laws, it is possible that we will collect sales tax from some customers, and then later (because of changes in the laws) discover that we did not have to collect that tax! WE PROMISE THAT IF THAT OCCURS, WE WILL REFUND THE SALES TAX TO THOSE AFFECTED CUSTOMERS (and anyone who has dealt with us surely knows that we will make sure this happens, refunding every last penny to those affected).

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