and I image it will cost me around 8.5% more on my internet orders. Even better reason to buy now. Honey, that D300s and 85 PCE will only cost more...
[closed]
Ken R. Threatening To Shut Down His Website
(45 posts) (21 voices)-
Posted 3 years ago #
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Part of the trouble with sales and use tax is with the citizens or at least their lack of knowledge about use tax. I'm sure there are people that collect sales tax and just pocket it, and it's hard to believe that's not just dishonesty.
But I'll bet most people don't know they're supposed to file a sales and use tax return to pay use tax on items purchased from online vendors that don't collect sales tax in their states. I didn't even know about use tax until I came across it when I started a business and started collecting sales tax a few years ago. It's a blissful ignorance for consumers (no sales tax? Sweet!), but I think it costs the states big by hurting local business and lowering tax revenue.
Posted 3 years ago # -
anjz said:
Hope he doesn't lose his business.What business?! He doesn't provide anything. He makes money everytime you click a link on his website. Why would any of you feel sorry for him losing "tax-free" six figure income by just posting "nonsense"?!
If Ken closes his website it's because he's greedy and doesn't want to pay to maintain it himself! How much overhead could he possible have?! He can sell ad space for in state retailers like Best Buy and Sammy's but they don't pay the big bucks so he's not interested.
I think people are just so use to the free ride online sales/purchases have been giving them that they don't want to put ANY coins in for a "pony ride".
Posted 3 years ago # -
His site and reviews are alright, but I get tired of hearing how the best lens for the money is the DX 18-55mm VR and how you should not waste your money on others.
Posted 3 years ago # -
NikoDoby. He's always needed pay income tax; So, he doesn't have a tax free six figure income. The issue is the sales tax that the non-resident companies need to pay because of the link on his site..unless I am misinterpreting what you are saying.
Posted 3 years ago # -
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anjz said:
NikoDoby. He's always needed pay income tax; So, he doesn't have a tax free six figure income. The issue is the sales tax that the non-resident companies need to pay because of the link on his site..unless I am misinterpreting what you are saying.You are absolutely correct anjz. This is 100% a sales and use tax issue.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Yes I know that. That's why I put tax-free in quotes as it relates to the sales and use tax. I didn't mean HE doesn't pay taxes. If his sponsors pull out of California then his "salary" takes a hit. He can just get in state retailers to advertise on his site to keep it going but that wouldn't get him attention.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Then again It pisses me off that waiters (I've never been on thankfully) pay taxes on their tips...
Posted 3 years ago # -
kyoshinikon said:
Then again It pisses me off that waiters (I've never been on thankfully) pay taxes on their tips...It pisses you off that they do pay taxes on their tips? I would be more pissed if they didn't. Good thing everyone tips through credit cards now and it's all reported.
BTW, from what I have gathered is that this part of the bill was added by the Senate but only to get denied by the Assembly and is now back in Assembly committee (i.e. "back to the drawing board") to get rehashed with other ways for CA to increase their revenue, such as reducing Net Operating Losses, increasing fuel taxes, etc... Not quite time to panic Ken.
Posted 3 years ago # -
NikoDoby said:
What business?! He doesn't provide anything. He makes money everytime you click a link on his website. Why would any of you feel sorry for him losing "tax-free" six figure income by just posting "nonsense"?!If Ken closes his website it's because he's greedy and doesn't want to pay to maintain it himself! How much overhead could he possible have?! He can sell ad space for in state retailers like Best Buy and Sammy's but they don't pay the big bucks so he's not interested.
I think people are just so use to the free ride online sales/purchases have been giving them that they don't want to put ANY coins in for a "pony ride".
You are completely clueless as to whats going on.
1. The legislation will Tax any online retailers paying bloggers to put links on their site.
2. His sites have said to him, they will pull out of all California based sites.
3. He is not "greedy" to not want to run his website on his own dollar, he simply would not have the income, without getting a different job, to justify keeping his site running.
4. His overhead his buying equipment and reviewing it, his time, and his webspace. Sure he gets lent alot of his lenses and equipment, but he also buys a lot.
How is his site not a business? He is the middle man for companies that want to advertise on his site. He gets paid for clicks of a mouse because that's what the ADVERTISERS agreed on, it wasn't his idea it was the advertisers. He was smart enough to capitalize on this. His six figure income is much less than what it would cost amazon to advertise for all of the things purchased from those links.
He's not threatening, he would HAVE to do this simply because his income would completely stop at a set date. He started the site for fun and for family, then he realized with the help of advertisements, he could make an income. It's an honest income. He is not tricking anyone into clicking on his site. He loves all of this talk about him and his site. The more Ken Rockwell is mentioned on the web, the more clicks his site gets, the more money he gets. If you really dislike him you would never talk about him. But, apparently it's impossible for a lot of the Nikon world to let somenoe else have other opinions about an how he composes his art, which is completely subjective and up to everyones own interpretation. Without the subjectiveness (is that a word?) art would not be art, it would be engineering.
Posted 3 years ago # -
mb said:
His poor wife would probably have to sell this humble 521 horsepower minivan! How on earth she will bring all the groceries needed by this growing family?
His wife DOES work ya know? And Judging by the pictures of him in his house, he's not living in the house he does off of his income alone, especially in California.
Posted 3 years ago # -
For the record, I'm not a huge Ken Rockwell fan, I just can't stand the closed mindedness people use when looking at his site and talking about him.
Posted 3 years ago # -
I started this topic remember JJ. You need to go back and reread from the beginning. The problem lies with out of state retailers. In state retailers already pay tax. He can still put up local state retail links, like Best Buy and Sammy's etc., on his website. What's the problem with that?
He doesn't have to buy his equipment. He can just go to a local retailer and they will happily provide him with stuff in exchange for "free" advertising. That happens all the time with "review" blogs. Of course he'd have to return the gear at the end or simply buy it himself. No big deal.
He's not selling anything. Only profiting from people going to his site and clicking around. That idea is not exclusive to his website. That's how many websites operate (including us). If he were selling ebooks or guides like Thom and others then yeah he's putting effort into it. If our admin can run this site and forum on the side why can't Ken? What's the problem again?
Posted 3 years ago # -
He's "selling" his user guides and reviews by making them free but getting the income from the retailers wanting at advertise on his site. His effort goes into his users guides and reviews. How is selling an e-book any different than publishing an e-book for free, and then getting paid by the ad's on the site instead of charging 40 bucks to download the book? Is having a billboard on your land and leasing the billboard not a business then? Is any form of something free, but uses advertisements as the income not a business? Is buying land and leasing it out not a business either? Cause it's the same thing. He buys webspace and takes the time (time=money), just like someone invests in real estate and leases it out. He leases a few lines of his website, apartment owners lease apartments. Your logic is flawed.
He does charge to download and print his Users Guides, and to get them on an iPhone or iPod Touch as an application.
If out of state retailers don't wanna pay taxes on these type of advertisements, why would in-state ones? The out of state retailes are much larger than the instate ones, yet the larger out of state retailers don't wanna afford it, so why would the in state retailers?
Posted 3 years ago # -
jjreason said:
The out of state retailes are much larger than the instate ones, yet the larger out of state retailers don't wanna afford it, so why would the in state retailers?The in state retailers already have nexus in CA so it makes no difference if they have sites like Ken's advertising for them. Sites like Amazon have no nexus in CA and have no requirement to collect and remit sales tax. The new legislation creates what's called "vendor assumption nexus" by having these sites advertise.
In effect CA is trying to view people like Ken as a sales force in CA establishing a physical presence within the state, which as a result could enable CA to legally require Amazon to collect sales tax for CA to all sales made within the state. If Amazon gets rid of their "sales force" that establish a physical presence (ie Ken) they can avoid having nexus in CA and the requirement to collect sales tax.
Posted 3 years ago # -
For some one who isn't a fan you sure are getting mightily worked up about this jj.
Posted 3 years ago # -
AaronFoto said:
The in state retailers already have nexus in CA so it makes no difference if they have sites like Ken's advertising for them. Sites like Amazon have no nexus in CA and have no requirement to collect and remit sales tax. The new legislation creates what's called "vendor assumption nexus" by having these sites advertise.In effect CA is trying to view people like Ken as a sales force in CA establishing a physical presence within the state, which as a result could enable CA to legally require Amazon to collect sales tax for CA to all sales made within the state. If Amazon gets rid of their "sales force" that establish a physical presence (ie Ken) they can avoid having nexus in CA and the requirement to collect sales tax.
I understand exactly what is going on. My point remains the same. Rockwell would not be able to get anyone to advertise on his site because the costs would outweigh the benefits, if the legislation were to pass.
Why would any retailer gamble, especially on a trafficy site like his, on a taxed AND variable advertising costs? When they can pay x amount of dollars and get taxed x *tax rate and not have to worry, in this tough economy, if they are going to be able to pay bills just because Rockwells site traffic tripled in 2 days. Who knows maybe Rockwell will predict EXACTLY what Nikon does for the next 5 years, and then his site is the #1 Nikon site in the land and then BB, Sammy's and other Local businesses are screwed because they have to pay Rockwell and California. From reading his site, I know damn well he would get contracts if this were the case. He's going to want to guarantee himself a steady income for x amount of years.
Posted 3 years ago # -
NikoDoby said:
For some one who isn't a fan you sure are getting mightily worked up about this jj.I never said I wasn't a fan. I'm just not a HUGE fan.
I get worked up about it because of the nonsense people spill out about him is ridiculous. I'm all for opinions about him, his photography, and his site, but don't hate on him simply because he has different opinions than you. Deep down, my beef has nothing to do with photography though. It has to do with the fact that photography is an art, therefore subjective, and the minute people read Rockwells OPINIONS, they start spouting nonsense about how stupid he is. So what if HE thinks the 18-55 is better than the 17-55. For his work the 18-55 works better, your results may vary, just like each and every piece of art varies. The art varies just as much as the tool. In photography everyones number 1 tool is different, get over it.
For Example: YOU said Rockwell is threatening to yank his site, in reality he will HAVE to pull his site, if the legislation passes, because he will have NO income coming from the site, not because he doesn't want advertisers, bt because he can't FIND anyone. How do you expect a person who's only job is running a website to be able to still run that website if all of is revenues are gone? How do you expect ANY business to run if all of its revenues are gone? Then you have the nerve to call him greedy because He wants his ad money in order to run the site? THATS ALL HE HAS for HIS income for the family, I have no idea what his wife does, but she does have an income also. He would have to go back to being an engineer and work 8-6pm everyday and have no time, or energy to do the site. Still sound greedy? :rollseyes:
Posted 3 years ago # -
jjreason said:
He would have to go back to being an engineer and work 8-6pm everyday and have no time, or energy to do the site. Still sound greedy? :rollseyes:Wow that is sad jj. I don't want to wish that upon anyone. How horrible. I don't think I'll be able to sleep now knowing the awful fate that awaits him. sniff sniff.
Anyway I can see where this is going even though I said not to turn into a Ken sucks versus Ken is god back and forth so I'll just close this thread now.
Posted 3 years ago #
Topic Closed
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