Russ, I'd hate to get moderated for hijacking a thread, but you raise an interesting point. I must admit that I've always assumed the Indian Nations were indeed sovereign and that the U.S. government had no jurisdiction over/among/within them. I stumbled upon
http://www.upstate-citizens.org/ where it's obvious they, in part, wish to force the tribal merchants to become agents of the State to collect and submit State sales tax on non-tribal sales, as it will help the non-tribal residents in the surrounding areas. I wonder; does this organization propose to pay the tribal merchants for this labor?
http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_033000_reservations.htm and
http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_019600_lawsofindian.htm are a couple of interesting reads (among those in the "Entries" link at their upper left) for a balanced-sounding explanation of at least those two topics. I guess I wish I could justify spending more time researching the general topic.
Regarding the collection of tax on items bought elsewhere, I agree it's a sticky subject. I don't so much see a problem with wanting it for items purchased tax-free elsewhere and brought into the state (distinct from one bringing the already-owned "goods" with them at the time they relocate to the state). New York State's law on that may be recent or old, I don't know. In another thread recently I'd presented a googled link to the State of Michigan's web site which clearly showed their law to be something like 75 years established, so I'd hope <i>it</i> would have been tested in court by now.
The thing that's puzzling to me is the situation where one might pay the sales tax in a distant location, thus not be liable for it locally. I'd guess it would have to be the result of two States agreeing to that condition simultaneously. I don't pretend to have a clue how or why that might work. Evidently New York State is not collecting sales tax for items shipped out of state, which is correct behavior (but they do collect it for over-the-counter sales to non-residents, right?), so they likewise have the authority to collect it on stuff shipped into the state. I'd bet the law is well-established, and that if you researched it, you'd see big corporations, et al, have been "voluntarily" complying all along. It probably is not cost-effective to go after every little private chainsaw-buyer. But if times get much tougher, don't be surprised to see the State wringing the dishcloth a little tighter.
At any rate, New York, and other states, will do whatever they want under color of law unless/until such time as it has been decided in court that they cannot. These particular concepts are not novel.
So the filing of your State sales/use tax is voluntary? The Federal Income Tax is also "voluntary". Does that mean you don't have to pay it even if you actually are liable for it? Personally, I'm an advocate of doing away with the IRS and having a 5% National sales tax with no deductions, ifs, ands, or buts. Uncle Sam would recover more money than he'd know what to do with, at lesser cost, and we'd be able to retain our full rights to privacy. Sadly, I fear it's not about the money...
Glen
