Tax has been paid on it somewhere - when it was purchased new. Not only is
it a general international principle that tax is only paid once but the tax
component is incorporated in the used price in its relationship to the new
price with tax. On new items bought duty free, tax is payable in the
country of destination or residence. On used gear, regardless of whether
you got a bargain, or bought off someone who purchased it tax exempt,
taxation is double dipping and is immoral. Equally, taxation on services
performed internationally, like you sending something to John, is
protectionist and should certainly be an offence against NAFTA or WTO regs.
(although, as Aus has discovered, the US govt. is quite good at
sidestepping WTO regs. in one area and demanding their application in
others!)
Andrew
>I'm not one to support these insane taxes (especially ones coming from the
>parliamentary crooks that just got re-elected tonight!), but this particular
>tax does make sense. If you think about it, when you bring a used item
>into a country, no taxes have ever been paid on it. Used items sold within
>a country did have tax paid at some point in time, usually when it was sold
>new. It's only fair that the imported used item be taxed just like the new
>item was when it was sold within the country. What I really disagree with
>is the tax that needs to be paid on repairs performed outside the country.
>If John H in NY repairs something for me, I need to pay 7 0ST on his fee.
>Now that's insane.
> -mark
>
>
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