February 25, 2010 11:36 PM UTC

Leading by example

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• by: DavidThi808

Update: 3/20/10, 9:04am

A statement I heard as a kid has always stuck with me – “making rules is easy, following them is hard.” In the case of the use tax the state is now putting a major emphasis on collecting this tax. Sounds simple and reasonable – no?

So I just shot an email to all of our elected leaders (state executive & legislative members) asking if they paid their use taxes over the last 3 years. Letter follows:

Hi;

With the recently passed legislation, you have put a major emphasis on increasing sales tax revenue. And a significant part of that is the attempt to collect the use taxes we all owe for internet purchases where no sales tax was charged.

As you are well aware, the use tax requirement has been in place for years (decades?). All that’s new is improving the enforcement mechanism. But we all should have been paying this tax even before this new legislation.

In the spirit of showing leadership by example, I request that each of you tell me if you filed your use tax statement and paid the taxes due for 2007, 2008, & 2009. And if you have not paid the taxes – why.

As our elected leaders who create and enforce the law, I think leading by example on this issue is very important. Because if you cannot be bothered to pay your use taxes, then why should you expect it of anyone else?

Thanks – dave

I will update as I get answers. But if they don’t file (I’m guessing that will be the answer of most), then how can they expect the rest of us to do so?

Responses: