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RTLFC ......
Let me chime in with my .02
My billing address is in Texas. So from the Vertex we get:
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TEXAS
Internet Access Charges
Effective October 1, 1999, the first $25 of a monthly charge for Internet Access Services is exempt.
Source: Texas Code Section 151.325
Sales of Goods Purchased Over the Internet:
In Texas, sales of goods over the Internet are treated the same as sales of tangible personal property through more traditional channels and, therefore, subject to the rules of nexus and Texas’s sales/use tax laws. Texas has interpreted nexus to include servers that reside within the state. For example, if a florist located in Texas takes an order on its Web site, which is hosted on a server in Texas, but delivery is made outside of Texas by a third party, charges for the order are subject to Texas sales /use tax.
Information/Software Purchased via Downloading from the Internet:
Information downloaded from the Internet is taxable as tangible personal property if the server from which the user obtains Internet access is located in Texas.
Source: Texas Tax Policy News, November 1996
[/ QUOTE ]Okay, a couple of things... tangible personal property is something you get use out of. While perhaps not the "I can touch and feel it" version of tangible, it would still be taxable. As for your taxation and where you receive the information, it's really sort of a moot point, because you are representing yourself as living at an address in Texas (where, I imagine, your bank account is also tied). Your residency doesn't change as you drive through states.
However, the part you
should be questioning EA on is this:
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Information/Software Purchased via Downloading from the Internet:
Information downloaded from the Internet is taxable as tangible personal property
if the server from which the user obtains Internet access is located in Texas.
[/ QUOTE ]It's not. Therefore, as far as this law applies, you shouldn't be paying tax on that information. {Edit: Hmmm... just re-read that it indicates the server from which the user obtains Internet access... that seems a bit strange to me, but maybe it's how it works in Texas. I would think it would apply to the server the information came from, not the internet access, but I could be wrong.}
Now, depending upon any Use Tax that Texas might have, there might still be a need, but I'm not up on Texas tax law.
Here in Illinois, based on everything I've researched thus far, we don't charge taxes on information downloaded from the internet (regardless of where it's at), but we do have a Use Tax on out of state purchases that is set at 6.25% (which is something we typically pay ourselves). However, EA is currently charging me 8% (which is my city/local tax, but not how Use Tax functions) on something that my state doesn't require tax on.
But I'm in continued communication with the Department of Revenue here in Illinois, and I guess we'll see what comes of it all.
) by eating up the tax portion , in the long run , its giving EA a little more money to add to our game..Hmm , sounds scary..
