Monthly Archives: April 2006

Straining Gnats and Swallowing Camels

"You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!" – Matthew 23:24

The irony in the following was too good for me to pass up.  My favorite (I mean that. He’s a nice fellow when not on his soap box.) Bible thumpin’, street preachin’, Jack Chick resemblin’ Fundamentalist, Rand, had an unpleasant exeperience at a church he recently visited.

"We visited a Brethren Gospel Hall on the Lord’s Day and we enjoyed the sermon. There was however, a weird moment, at the Lord’s Table. The problem was with one of the elements. It was the bread. They distributed a loaf of bread; a loaf of leavened bread that you would find at any bakery."

The following day he explained why that was wrong.

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Caesar Can Get Bent

[BSMETER.GIF]What a crock.

"Did you buy anything through the Internet last year without paying sales tax at the time? If you did, state tax collectors warn that you’d better say so by April 17 and write a check–or else."

"Online purchases from sites like Amazon.com and eBay may seem to arrive in a state of untaxed bliss. But the law actually requires shoppers to pay their own state’s sales tax rate–the concept is called a ‘use tax‘–and voluntarily cough up the exact amount owed each year at tax time."

"Tax bureaucrats for years have lamented the difficulty of collecting use taxes on catalog and mail order sales. Now, with online shopping growing rapidly and nearing $100 billion a year in consumer sales, tax collectors are adopting more aggressive tactics."

"New York state has added a line to income tax returns requiring all residents to calculate how much they should pay on Internet, mail order or out-of-state purchases. The threat is explicit: Anyone who creatively underestimates will face stiff penalties if an audit occurs."

If Amazon.com, et al., start charging sales tax, I won’t be thrilled, but it won’t stop me from buying from stores on the net.  Why isn’t that being done?  Expecting folks to tax themselves is asinine.