be a supporting member

Hear! Hear!

Agreed!

Thats why I went from a lurker to a member. Love this place .....

For the time being I chose to just donate, if I end up owning I will probably become a member.

SOC membership cost...definitely worth the entertainment value! 

Quite right.  Even in Canadian dollars...

...on this subject: While I totally agree that members actively participating in SOC should become "Supporting Members," I was taken aback by the email notice I just received from the Club's "Fee processing" company - FeePod Premium Memberships: 

 "Starting April 1st, we'll begin collecting sales tax on Premium Membership Invoice payments for certain customers in the US, based on the applicable tax rate in the state where your billing address is located. If your billing address is in one of the states in which FeePod is required to collect sales tax, you'll see the sales tax appear on on your Premium Membership Invoice Receipt." 

I belong to more than a few organizations, to which I pay annual membership fees. I've done some checking into those payments and find NONE of them collect state sales tax! Does anyone out there have any FACTS about this new assessment? 

@Napa Paul : I was equally surprised!  Then I noted I neither live in Washington nor South Carolina where they claim to be “required” to collect sales tax.  This, of course, is “subject to change in the future.”

I am, and will continue to be, a Supporting Member tax or no tax (knowing full well I entirely disagree with collecting this tax for a members only web site!)

Eventually all states that have a sales tax will likely include internet sales in their taxable sales inventory.  The issue has been slowly winding its way through the court system.   Even after the Supreme Court makes a decision on the specific issue, individual states need to enact legislation and compliance methodology, i.e., OK, what do we need to do to comply? 

The other organizations you mention will likely join the sales tax queue.  If you want to put a positive spin on the tax itself, these are fees that we would have paid historically, i.e., in a "bricks and mortar" sales environment when we shopped on Main Street, not on our laptops. 

We won't know what states their new policy covers until after their announced start date of April 1st. I can only imagine that FeePod will probably begin collecting for California. Why? ...because CA was one of the states that sued (and won) online retailers like Amazon, for not collecting their sales taxes. Personally, I don't believe "membership fees" are, nor should be, deemed as taxable goods.....but that's where the attorneys get involved!  Then, ....we're f*#ked! 

The whole tax thing is so ridiculous in as much as when you're working your paycheck has many taxes taken out, then when you go to a retail store and buy something, more taxes... buy some gas there's the tax man getting his pound of flesh.they are flirting with charging some kind of tax to drive into Boston on certain highways at certain times in a attempt to cut down on congestion, every time local or state govt. needs money for whatever they raise or institute a new tax on something... try going to work Monday morn and tell the boss you will be needing a new roof so you'll need a substantial raise, let me know how that works out for ya .

May be we should all pool our money, buy enough real estate to start a compound to promote these cute little plastic cars, we'd have wind driven generators, lifestock, and water wells all with the intent of going off the grid to be able to procure some molds to churn out and tinker with this dying breed of man size go carts we own, who's in ?

widebody boy posted:

The whole tax thing is so ridiculous in as much as when you're working your paycheck has many taxes taken out, then when you go to a retail store and buy something, more taxes... buy some gas there's the tax man getting his pound of flesh.they are flirting with charging some kind of tax to drive into Boston on certain highways at certain times in a attempt to cut down on congestion, every time local or state govt. needs money for whatever they raise or institute a new tax on something... try going to work Monday morn and tell the boss you will be needing a new roof so you'll need a substantial raise, let me know how that works out for ya .

With anti tax-man talk like that, I wouldn't be answering any knocks on the door for a few weeks ..... they're always listening

I've got a pack of german shepards (4) they'll let me know when they come around, and it'll be one less meal I'll have to feed them...

eBay has been hosing me for some time now with West Virginia tax being collected on every sale, I wonder just how long it will be before someone discovers that ppl are hording those funds......

 

I’m fine paying a tax for tangible goods but a membership on an internet site isn’t a tangible good. It’s a service and last I checked services aren’t supposed to be taxed in California. 

True for California, but not for many other states.

Jim Kelly posted:

True for California, but not for many other states.

Which surprises me because California usually leads the world in stupid taxes.

widebody boy posted:

The whole tax thing is so ridiculous in as much as when you're working your paycheck has many taxes taken out, then when you go to a retail store and buy something, more taxes... buy some gas there's the tax man getting his pound of flesh.they are flirting with charging some kind of tax to drive into Boston on certain highways at certain times in a attempt to cut down on congestion, every time local or state govt. needs money for whatever they raise or institute a new tax on something... try going to work Monday morn and tell the boss you will be needing a new roof so you'll need a substantial raise, let me know how that works out for ya .

Try living on a long ago planned out as-best-you-can FIXED income - it's called being retired. Any and all new taxes that constantly come out of the blue, bite you in the arse and leave an ever-growing scar! I know, a new tax @ only about $3.50 assessed on my SOC membership is chump-change... and I'll surely spill much more than that while enjoying a fine lunch, but it seems like every time I turn around someone's sticking their hand into my pocket to grab more and more of that chump-change. 

There, I've vented! Have a nice day. 

 

I want to be positive, so I won't talk about the legalized theft we experience every time we turn around.

I'm happy to say my support for this forum is one of the best values I've had.  We're all so so different yet so similar, there's always a chance to learn, share common interests and be entertained.