# Your Online Purchases: Protected Information Requiring A Warrant, Or Public Activity? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-online-purchases-protected-information-requiring-a-warrant-or-public-activity/775859 "2016-12-29T19:22:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-online-purchases-protected-information-requiring-a-warrant-or-public-activity/775859/21 "2016-12-30T21:11:51Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Let’s be clear, it is a use tax not a sales tax since the latter is unconstitutional. Colorado depends on self-reporting of these purchases and the law requires the out-of-state company to report to the buyer the amount of the use tax they owe the state. It is as simple as adding a line to the invoice. Serious question: How is this functionally any different than a state levying a duty on articles imported from another state? Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution says: > [@](#): > > No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection laws: and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-online-purchases-protected-information-requiring-a-warrant-or-public-activity/775859/22 "2016-12-30T21:39:04Z")
Retail sales taxes have long been found to not be interstate import duties. The key distinction is that someone pays the transaction tax regardless of the origin of the goods. Whether you buy a gizmo made entirely in your state or entirely in some other state, or some mix of each, the local retailer charges you the local rate of sales tax on the entire purchase. The rest of the question is whether the buyer ought to be able to frustrate the tax by the ruse of buying remotely from an out of state source and performing the interstate importation after the purchase instead of before. ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-online-purchases-protected-information-requiring-a-warrant-or-public-activity/775859/23 "2016-12-31T03:15:33Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The key distinction is that someone pays the transaction tax regardless of the origin of the goods. That’s not wholly true, though, in my state. I don’t have to pay use tax on items bought in any state with a sales tax that is greater than or equal to that of my own state. I can shop in Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, or Rhode Island and not owe a cent in use tax to Maine Revenue Services, but if I buy the same item in New Hampshire, I owe MRS 5.5% of the cost of the item. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-online-purchases-protected-information-requiring-a-warrant-or-public-activity/775859/24 "2016-12-31T03:49:02Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > That’s not wholly true, though, in my state. I don’t have to pay use tax on items bought in any state with a sales tax that is greater than or equal to that of my own state. I can shop in Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, or Rhode Island and not owe a cent in use tax to Maine Revenue Services, but if I buy the same item in New Hampshire, I owe MRS 5.5% of the cost of the item. Technically, what Maine is doing is giving you a credit for the amount of sales tax you paid to the other state- if you bought something in a state with a 4% sales tax, you would owe 1.5% to Maine. What **LSLGuy** is talking about that the tax rate is the same regardless of the origin of the goods. You must pay at least 5.5% tax on the item whether you bought it in Maine, NY or New Hampshire. Import duties are a tax charged on imported items that is not charged on goods that are not imported. An interstate import duty would be like the customs duty you might have to pay when returning to the US with items bought in another country or receiving items from another country through the mail. Only instead of paying it on goods coming into the US from another country , you would pay it on goods coming into Maine from another state. If you had to pay 5.5% sales tax on items bought in Maine but 8% tax on items bought in NH, that would be an interstate import duty. If you paid 5.5% tax on an item manufactured and sold in Maine but 8% tax on an item that was manufactured in NH and sold in Maine, that would also be an interstate import duty. ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-online-purchases-protected-information-requiring-a-warrant-or-public-activity/775859/25 "2016-12-31T14:19:13Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Technically, what Maine is doing is giving you a credit for the amount of sales tax you paid to the other state- if you bought something in a state with a 4% sales tax, you would owe 1.5% to Maine. > > What **LSLGuy** is talking about that the tax rate is the same regardless of the origin of the goods. You must pay at least 5.5% tax on the item whether you bought it in Maine, NY or New Hampshire. Import duties are a tax charged on imported items that is not charged on goods that are not imported. An interstate import duty would be like the customs duty you might have to pay when returning to the US with items bought in another country or receiving items from another country through the mail. Only instead of paying it on goods coming into the US from another country , you would pay it on goods coming into Maine from another state. If you had to pay 5.5% sales tax on items bought in Maine but 8% tax on items bought in NH, that would be an interstate import duty. If you paid 5.5% tax on an item manufactured and sold in Maine but 8% tax on an item that was manufactured in NH and sold in Maine, that would also be an interstate import duty. I think I see, now. Can we just move to a nationwide VAT model already, so I don’t have to keep track of this stuff?😉 ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-online-purchases-protected-information-requiring-a-warrant-or-public-activity/775859/26 "2016-12-31T17:48:58Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > I think I see, now. Can we just move to a nationwide VAT model already, so I don’t have to keep track of this stuff?😉 But then what happens to the various municipalities that currently have an ‘extra’ sales tax? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-online-purchases-protected-information-requiring-a-warrant-or-public-activity/775859/27 "2016-12-31T18:18:32Z")
If you buy online, wouldn’t someone just read the email confirmation? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-online-purchases-protected-information-requiring-a-warrant-or-public-activity/775859/28 "2016-12-31T18:26:46Z")
Still doesn’t explain how a business is compelled to do something if they have no presence in the state? Do they even have to send the summary to the buyer? How would the state enforce this? Presumably there are states without a sales tax and some mail-order/web businesses are smart enough to originate from there. I order stuff to be delivered to a parcel handling facility in a different state - heck, a different country - so I can drive it across the border myself and avoid those brokerage fees that can vary randomly from zero to dozens of dollars, on top of duty - duty I may be exempt from if my pickup falls in a 48-hour visit outside of Canada. As for the OP - let’s distinguish between a business voluntarily divulging info with a simple request from someone (law enforcement? Private investigator? Foreign law enforcement?) versus a properly obtained warrant valid in the jurisdiction the company’s offices fall in. (Does a company like Amazon have to respond to any subpoena from any state or just in certain states? If so, why?) Again, any warrant requires something more that “they bought something that could perhaps be used for something illegal”. A business that voluntarily or proactively divulges information is breaking a confidentiality, but there is no law about that (unless it’s medical, etc.) it’s strictly a business decision. Perhaps they can be sued if it violates their Terms of Service, but IIRC there’s a principle that you cannot sue over an illegal activity, so the only recourse might be if they raid your place and find nothing incriminating, then you can sue the business for divulging information they promised not to. Only if they so promised… ? The other question is the validity of the warrant to Amazon, or if they had none, the validity of the revelation, the validity subsequent warrant to search your premises, and the admissibility of any evidence if any of the warrants were inappropriate (insufficient grounds for a warrant). Any warrant requires basic grounds: > [@](#): > > A valid search warrant must meet four requirements: > (1) the warrant must be filed in good faith by a law enforcement officer; > (2) the warrant must be based on reliable information showing probable cause to search; > (3) the warrant must be issued by a neutral and detached magistrate; and > (4) the warrant must state specifically the place to be searched and the items to be seized. So they key is whether simply buying grow-op equipment is “probable cause”. Sounds a little weak to me. Plus… they would need probably cause - without info on the grow-op stuff - to get a warrant for Amazon sales info. Gut feel is not probably cause. Of course, grow-op equipment plus some “leafy green substance” in the trash sounds like probably cause, provided timing is right and substance is reasonably identified. (i.e. not last night’s spinach salad) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-online-purchases-protected-information-requiring-a-warrant-or-public-activity/775859.md?page=1)