As I lay in bed last night trying to get to sleep so I could come to work today I couldn’t help but think about all the sales tax the state of Minnesota lost out on with the amount of illegal fireworks going off. It was like I was in a war zone!
The good thing is the 4th is over now so I will only have to listen to fireworks every night for a few more weeks. 
But just think about the municipal dollars we saved, from not having the fires and injuries that come from them… 
half funny/half sick issues with Sales Tax in Minnesota.
Had a company come give me an estimate on just Shredding/Chipping up some trees I need to take down.
The guy tells me we can cut them down if you don’t have time, but then you’ll be charged sales tax.
“If I come here and need to cut the tree down, then I need to charge you sales tax on the whole job, but If I come and the tree is laying on the ground, then I cannot charge sales tax on doing that work”.
Thus, I would save $29 in sales tax by cutting the tree down myself, plus the cost of them cutting it down and the additional sales tax on that portion.
That is how insane and complicated our tax laws have become. 
Pretty ridiculous. On the news yesterday they were saying the police didn’t want people calling in to complain about fireworks, if you had a complaint you should go online and file it. This tells me there is just nothing they can do about them. So why not make them legal and get the money from the taxes and make a few more jobs in MN?
Maybe we should ask govener veto what he thinks. The people’s govener.
Governor No would say that if he would have signed the bill that was passed by our elected legislature, then we all would have killed or maimed ourselves with legal fireworks.
Governor No has no answer as to how we all managed NOT to kill or maim ourselves with all the illegaland untaxed fireworks that were shot off last night.
Grouse
Yep, could make a few bucks on fireworks taxes, but that would be a small amount compared to collecting sales tax on all on-line purchases.
But then it’s better to give the on-line guys a advantage over the brick and motor shops here in state paying taxes.
OK, sorry for getting the post off track.
Didn’t Jesse the BODY try to get this implemented in MN ??? 
Internet sales tax…. 
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Maybe we should ask govener veto what he thinks.
I should have asked him to our house yesterday. I could have handed him one a lit fuse and told him to do what he thinks is right.
After 10 last night the city had their fireworks and all the while there were fireworks going off everywhere they weren’t supposed to be going off and the cops just sat back and enjoyed the colors. Nobody with a ticket book or badge bothered us. Now if the law enforcement community was so against the fireworks that Dayton felt the need to nix the bill allowing them, why aren’t they doing their darned job?
Just another useless and senseless law that goes un-enforced.
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Yep, could make a few bucks on fireworks taxes, but that would be a small amount compared to collecting sales tax on all on-line purchases.
Unconstitutional. Interstate Commerce Clause, Article I, Section 8.
The ICC has generally been interpreted to reserve the power to regulate interstate commerece for the Federal government. If states were allowed to impose their own systems of import tariffs (which a sales tax would be if it were placed on goods purchased outside of the state’s boundaries), they would effectively taking over a power reserved for the Federal government.
Of course, this is my opinion of what’s going to happen. I would point out, though, that it was because of this hurdle that California backed down from their plan to try to force tax collection on all goods purchased outside of CA, even if the owners personally transported them into CA. Instead, they made they system voluntary. Only in California. 
We’ll be finding out very shortly what the Supreme Court says on this very issue.
Grouse
I almost changed my mind about the fireworks after hearing all of them going off the last few nights. Then I realized these were illegally being set off anyway and would making them legal really change how many are going off at all hours of the night?
So yeah, pretty dumb to not just go ahead and make them legal.
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Yep, could make a few bucks on fireworks taxes, but that would be a small amount compared to collecting sales tax on all on-line purchases.
Unconstitutional. Interstate Commerce Clause, Article I, Section 8.
The ICC has generally been interpreted to reserve the power to regulate interstate commerece for the Federal government. If states were allowed to impose their own systems of import tariffs (which a sales tax would be if it were placed on goods purchased outside of the state’s boundaries), they would effectively taking over a power reserved for the Federal government.
Of course, this is my opinion of what’s going to happen. I would point out, though, that it was because of this hurdle that California backed down from their plan to try to force tax collection on all goods purchased outside of CA, even if the owners personally transported them into CA. Instead, they made they system voluntary. Only in California.
We’ll be finding out very shortly what the Supreme Court says on this very issue.
Grouse
Or it can be like Illinois where they passed the same type of law and Amazon dropped all of the affiliates companies in Illinois, causing them to pretty much go out of business or move to Wisconsin. Oh, and the big windfall that Illinois claimed they were going to get actually turned into collecting less sales tax. That law has recently been ruled unconstitutional in Illinois…
Yep the same here. For the previous 4 days befor the 4th some people ontop the hill a block away shot off huge aerial bombs that if you weren’t ready made you jump and they almost ratteled the windows. For atleast 4 days they went off every night so I’m assuming the police didn’t get a call reporting them. Getting no calls makes me think the whole neighborhood area thinks its ok and is pretty cool to hear them. I got a kick out of the wife jumping and swearing every time one would go off, these were some of the loudest ones I’ve heard for awhile. Why not just make them legal because people are going to shoot them off anyway, I think law inforcement thinks thier also pretty cool, my next door neighbor is a deputy and he thinks they are…
The lawns are so dry here in south central Wi. that narry a firework was set off by anyone. Sure made for a quiet 4th of July. I’m glad that most chose caution over amusement.
I don’t think they should be legalized. On one hand I don’t like it when they inconvenience me and on the other mass civil disobedience seems so American. Makes me proud. Sometimes….
The State of Minnesota does have it in their state tax forms to list the value of taxable goods from out of state that you did not pay sales tax on and then asks you to list the value and pay the sales tax via your state income tax forms.
Some information on MN Sales Tax:
MN Sales Tax Law summary
MN Tax Form UT-1 Check it out and see how much you would have owed if you filled it out and paid the tax.
Granted, nobody likes paying taxes , but for small Minnesota based businesses that have to collect and pay the tax it really bites 
that those businesses without a physical presence in Minnesota save their customers between 6-1/2% to 8%+/- depending where you live in Minnesota.
If you purchase an item from Thorne Bros store you’ll pay less than if you buy the same item from Throne Bros at the NW Sportsshow when they are physically located in the City of Minneapolis due to the different sales tax rates. However if you buy the same item on AMAZON, you likely won’t pay any sales tax. Yes, you saved 
a few bucks, but at the same time hurt a minnesota business supporting this website/forum.
On the same token if you go into Gander Mountain in Eden Prairie to purchase and item, you’ll pay more sales tax than if you mail order it from them to be delivered to Chaska (as long as you get free shipping), just due to different sales tax rates.
Whats the answer to make it fair & less complex.
Couldn’t agree more with neighbors putting on almost as good a show as the city did with their display. The other thing to go along with the fireworks is why not legalize Sunday liquor sales. Living in Hastings I remember when I used to have a few beers the number of trips we used to make to Prescott on Sunday to get our beer.
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The State of Minnesota does have it in their state tax forms to list the value of taxable goods from out of state that you did not pay sales tax on and then asks you to list the value and pay the sales tax via your state income tax forms.
Some information on MN Sales Tax:
MN Sales Tax Law summaryMN Tax Form UT-1 Check it out and see how much you would have owed if you filled it out and paid the tax.
Granted, nobody likes paying taxes
If you purchase an item from Thorne Bros store you’ll pay less than if you buy the same item from Throne Bros at the NW Sportsshow when they are physically located in the City of Minneapolis due to the different sales tax rates. However if you buy the same item on AMAZON, you likely won’t pay any sales tax. Yes, you saved
On the same token if you go into Gander Mountain in Eden Prairie to purchase and item, you’ll pay more sales tax than if you mail order it from them to be delivered to Chaska (as long as you get free shipping), just due to different sales tax rates.
Whats the answer to make it fair & less complex.
Or think of the business Thorne Bros gets from 49 other states (Ok, more realistically Midwestern states) because those residents don’t have to pay tax and Thorne is not burden with collecting that sales tax and sending it to that state.
And what about the local affiliates that will go out of business or leave? Maybe we don’t care about them if they are not sponsors of this website? The state will not collect any tax from the ones that leave and probably end up supporting the ones that go out of business. All this yapping about internet sales tax only really helps your Best Buys and Targets of the world. Not mom and pop shops.
I guess the only solution I can think of is to be more competitive. Even if I had to pay taxes and shipping on Amazon in most cases it is still cheaper than buying locally. I can’t believe all these Amazon business are selling these products for a loss… And it doesn’t need to be just by price. I order from both Thorne and MTO and pay both sales tax and shipping. I could order from Rollie’s and not pay sales tax, but the service stinks. And paying sales tax and shipping is probably still cheaper than going to GM(like they would have it in stock anyway 
).
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I don’t think they should be legalized. On one hand I don’t like it when they inconvenience me and on the other mass civil disobedience seems so American. Makes me proud. Sometimes….
Its always about you, isn’t it? Who do you think you are, my girlfriend?
I don’t care either way. We set off illegal fireworks at my brothers cabin for years. We had to move when the sheriff moved in next door to my other brother who also had a cabin on the same lake. It was more this guy was a dick and thought he was above the law, more so than he was interested in upholding the law. He was forced into retirement.
So if I want to set off these boom fireworks, I know I can around the forth without fear of being fined and confiscated.
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