[MR_BIGGS]

HAPPY CANADA DAY

BELLINGHAM (NEWS1130) - The tax exemption for B.C. shoppers that was going to take effect July 1 in Washington State has been temporarily blocked by a judge at the request of the city of Bellingham and Whatcom County.

When the announcement was made on June 8 by the Washington Department of Revenue, local governments reacted in shock. Many did not like the idea of a foreign government being part in their policy making.

Ken Oplinger with the Bellingham Chamber of Commerce says the city of Bellingham and the county are fighting the tax break because it will cost them $3 million in revenue in the first year.

"City of Bellingham and Whatcom County filed suite against the state of Washington on the imposition of this new mandate. The judge that heard it agreed with them that there needs to be a moratorium put in place, so that arguments could be heard."

Oplinger says for small cities and counties the exemption was going to be a substantial hit to their bottom line, but it's nothing personal against Canadians.

The judge has blocked the tax break until at least July 9th, when the case will be heard in court, at which point the judge will make a determination whether the block will be held in place, or whether they will go ahead and lift it.

[CP.AR]

i love getting anal'd on canada day

[FN-2199]

i love getting anal'd on canada day

This is a double deep throat.

[MR_BIGGS]

This is a double deep throat.

Double Deep Throat and a DP...

[ShadowBun]

fk.

[Durrann]

lol i feel bad for the ppl heading to states now ..and i feel bad for the ppl in retail..rejecting all BC residents

[MyPresIzBlack]

that fucking sucks. i was going to head down there with the wife and take advantage of this!

[MG1]

So the retailers down there just lost out. It was a reason for some Canadians to go shopping down there.

On a side note, shopping in the US is overrated, IMHO. If anything, the selection is better. Prices are OK, but most of the time not worth the hassles. The tax break would have made a small difference. Oh well, life sucks and then you die.

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

weak sauce

taxes this, taxes that

give me a fucking break

[TOS'd]

Double Deep Throat and a DP...

DDTDVDA

[MR_BIGGS]

DDTDVDA

Is that even possible?? Like 6 on 1??lol

[slammer111]

So basically for now, we have to pay 9% WA sales tax, followed by 12% HST. Wow. :D

Seriously, this is so freaking lame.

[JD¹³]

From now on everything is cash under the table :D

[Tegra_Devil]

CANADA DAY represents HST and Carbon TAX!

[TomBox_N]

Just temporarily blocked. There's still hope
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)

[CP.AR]

DDTDVDA

translate for the non-porn addicted crowd plox

[RiceIntegraRS]

didnt we always pay for WA sales tax b4? i honestly never looked at my reciepts to notice......

[asahai69]

:fuuuuu:

[LiquidTurbo]

I bet Gordy Campbell took this judge out for dinner..

[jackmeister]

does this apply to all of washington or just bellingham/whatcom?

[twitchyzero]

^ this is what i want to know...

[CorneringArtist]

The wording in the article IS pretty strange...but I'll probably say that it was a state judge that blocked it, and not one from Whatcom.

EDIT: found an article regarding the judge who blocked it. It was a Skagit County Supreme Court judge, which is the county under Whatcom.

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Washington+sales+exemption+British+Columbians+hold/3222677/story.html

BELLINGHAM — A Skagit County Superior Court Judge has issued an order temporarily blocking a Washington sales-tax exemption for British Columbians that had been scheduled to take effect Thursday.

According to County Executive Pete Kremen, the order means that B.C. residents won’t be able to claim the exemption until further notice.

Judge Susan Cook’s order is not final, and additional legal arguments in the matter are scheduled to be heard July 9.

In court filings, lawyers for the city of Bellingham and Whatcom County argued that the Washington Department of Revenue was granting the “HST” exemption based on a mistaken interpretation of state law.

They said an immediate court order was needed because local governments would suffer significant loss of tax revenues if the exemption took effect as scheduled — and noted that no corrective action by the state legislature is possible until the 2011 session.

The Department of Revenue issued the tax exemption notice June 8, based on the theory that B.C.’s new 12-per-cent “harmonized sales tax” or HST, which takes effect July 1, is a value-added tax, not a sales tax.

Even though B.C. shoppers will pay the 12-per-cent tax at the cash register, the new B.C. system still meets the “value-added tax” definition because the retailer and others who paid taxes along the supply chain will get a partial rebate on their tax payments, officials argue. That rebate comes from the revenue paid by the retail shopper.

As Revenue’s attorneys saw it, that meant B.C. residents were entitled to claim the tax exemption under a 1965 state law meant to help Clark County merchants entice Oregon shoppers. The law provides the exemption for residents of any state or province with a sales tax of less than three per cent.

But in legal documents filed Wednesday, city and county attorneys challenged that interpretation.

“It is undisputed that the retailers in British Columbia will continue to collect the tax from the purchaser at the time of sale based on the purchase price and it will be 12-per-cent sales tax,” the city-county legal memorandum said.

“Thus, call it what you will, and give whatever credit you like to the retailer, it is still a retail sales tax because the incidence of tax is on the consumer, and its character is a retail sales tax, regardless of what they wish to call it.”

[Not really racist!]

I was just there today, still exempt when I asked. Just had to give them my DL

[Shead]

AMERICA!! FUCK YEAH.................nott

[Greenstoner]

Just came back today, shop at the outlets and downtown.
Everything were tax free except for A&F coz their system hasn't been update yet!!!
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)

[TRD Rs200]

fking anal government

[TOS'd]

translate for the non-porn addicted crowd plox

DDTDVDA

Double Deep Throat Double Vagina Double Anal = 6 Guys + 1 Girl

[twitchyzero]

cool sounds like it's only denied in whatcom county then

[CorneringArtist]

^ Sounds more like it's up to the store if people are still getting the discount. I did see people on the news not getting the discount after shopping in Whatcom.

[q0192837465]

we can just all boycott Whatcom. That'll show them judges, pfff

[68style]

They think it will COST them money? LOL... I know soooooo many people going down this weekend just because of the no tax thing... they're retarded!

[Graeme S]

It will cost the county money in terms of how much tax revenue it will collect directly from sales. The issue is that they are getting/would get indirect benefits-commercial tax and income tax from the additional sales force which may be hired.
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)

[Vulcan300]

the stores can decide to either honour it or not. most of the places i went to today didn't honour it

[moky]

my gf is down there since yesterday and she just told me that everything they bought was tax-free. they didn't go to bellingham though since she has relatives that are in bellevue

[CorneringArtist]

^ Which is in King County. Sounds like people going to Whatcom are getting the shaft on the exemption. The Seattle Premium Outlets are in Snohomish, so there's a possibility that they're honouring the tax break (if anyone has been there recently, say something).

Out of curiosity, do any RS'ers buy groceries in the States when they visit? Since I tend to stay overnight with family in Lynnwood, my mom usually goes with my aunt to Fred Meyer for a few things.

[moky]

i buy grocery in the states whenever im there, and my parents and i normally stay three or four days down in portland. even if u factor in gas, hotel and food, groceries and everything else u buy still is cheaper. a 12case of soymilk is about 13bucks in costco there, over here its 10bucks for 3 (2litre) cartons.

[double0seven]

What dicks. Jealous of our Health Care .

[woob]

Jealous of our Gold Medals.

[shenmecar]

Jealous of our..................igloos.

[kayceeee]

I was in premium yesterday and some stores did the tax free some didn't..nike did if anyone cares just showed them DL n didn't pay taxes at all
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)

[aznrsx1979]

It's only the counties up along the BC border and if you go out to the boonies near Idaho. If you went farther south it wasn't as much an issue. A few stores even had signs saying BC and Ont residents are exempt at the Premium Outlets.

[acurael]

Went to alderwood mall and the major department stores did the tax exemption. At seattle premium outlets some stores did and others didnt/or hadnt updated their systems.

I just showed my DL everywhere if i got the tax break great, if not oh well - still saving hundreds of dollars compared to shopping in Van and better selection. Went July 1st

[CorneringArtist]

Good to know that some stores in Snohomish are still doing the exemption. I'm going to Lynnwood in a couple of weeks.

[DsZ24]

was at bellis fair yesterday. 2 out of the 4 stores we bought stuff from gave the tax exemption.

[saucywoman]

so if I do the Tualip outlet or shop in Seattle any idea if I'm going to not pay taxes? SO far I'm understanding it's kind of hit or miss; is that correct?

[Greenstoner]

I went to the outlet and downtown seattle. I present my DL and everything were tax free.

I got tax break from every stores except for A&F they said the system is not yet updated.

My gf's friend shopped at Nordstorm for a GUCCI handbag price tag $1200 and it was tax free as well...

Excluding the handbag she bought, we brought back $600 goods back (grocery included), done a little calculation for shit n giggles.. we saved about $50~60.. thats nearly 2 tanks of gas :D


side note: I was down at seattle for 2 days and back to the border around 12:30am. Only 1 booth was open, the CBSA was pulling almost every 5th car which i never seen before. They probably knew most of the people went down there to shop because of the tax break.

I got asked more questions than they normally did ( I go down to the state at least once a month for the past 6 months )

[DsZ24]

We got pulled in on the way down to the states. Went inside and waited in line for 45 minutes. As we're almost to the front of the line the border guard who told us to go inside comes and hands us back our passports and tells us we can leave. Who knows what that was about. Something about 4 people in a toyota didn't sit well with him i guess lol.

[impulseX]

could someone just clarify for me...
is only certain areas of seattle honouring the tax exempt?

Planning on heading down tomorrow and wondering if the bellis fair mall will exempt, and if the premium outlets by the tulalip casino will tax exempt. thanks!

[Audi-Quattro]

I went to the outlet and downtown seattle. I present my DL and everything were tax free.

I got tax break from every stores except for A&F they said the system is not yet updated.

My gf's friend shopped at Nordstorm for a GUCCI handbag price tag $1200 and it was tax free as well...

Excluding the handbag she bought, we brought back $600 goods back (grocery included), done a little calculation for shit n giggles.. we saved about $50~60.. thats nearly 2 tanks of gas :D


side note: I was down at seattle for 2 days and back to the border around 12:30am. Only 1 booth was open, the CBSA was pulling almost every 5th car which i never seen before. They probably knew most of the people went down there to shop because of the tax break.

I got asked more questions than they normally did ( I go down to the state at least once a month for the past 6 months )

Did they make you pay tax at the border?

[Gumby]

Did they make you pay tax at the border?
Unless you meet any of the personal exemption conditions (out of country for at least 24 hours), nobody said anything about a tax exemption coming into Canada...

[Greenstoner]

Did they make you pay tax at the border?

Nope, but they questioned me more than it used to be. Asking why do I have to stay over night, where did I stay and why...etc.