SAN ANTONIO Forum Off-Topic Chat Thread - Part 5 (zip code, deposit)

[majormadmax]

Heck, this is one of the reasons we moved to San Antonio! After moving from here to Belgium, I remember one exceptionally icy cold morning when I was scraping several inches of ice and snow off my car thinking I never had to mess with the stuff in Texas!

It's much easier to deal with extreme heat than extreme cold...

Cheers! M2

[BstYet2Be]

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And, it definitely could be worse... you could be one of the thousands in the NE right now still without electricity after the storms there... during record high temps!
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[SabresFanInSA]

Originally Posted by doss1

Funny you say that, I thought it has been relatively cool this summer so far. You realize it has been hotter in other parts of the US?

It hasnt been bad, but it has been 25 years of Texas summers where scorching temps are the norm. Other places that have been hotter this year are dealing with weather anomalies.

By no means a knock on Texas. Just might be ready to try something different.

[Deep Forest]

Originally Posted by SabresFanInSA

Just another in a long list of reasons the wife and I have started discussing (very early stages) leaving Texas.

Just remember everything's relative. You move back north where they have a real problem when it gets to 100° (worse with no electricity) and high humidity. Or here when it routinely goes past 105° with normally low humidity and few power outtages in the summer time. I was born up north and can tell you some summers were really crappy. But it's your call.

[Deep Forest]

And I almost forgot... Amazon.com is now charging sales tax on your online purchases. 8.125% to be exact. I don't see how this is going to help a whole lot with local retailers because they're still charging more than Amazon.

[TexasRedneck]

It narrows the gap - the added sales tax and the inconvenience of having to wait could help tip the scales. Either way - huge increase in sales taxes, both for state AND local governments, since the tax will be paid to the state AND the city in which the buyer resides.

Gonna be an accounting nightmare for Amazon, though!

[lessQQmorePEWPEW]

Originally Posted by Deep Forest

And I almost forgot... Amazon.com is now charging sales tax on your online purchases. 8.125% to be exact. I don't see how this is going to help a whole lot with local retailers because they're still charging more than Amazon.

when was this? i ordered something from amazon last week and wasnt charged sales tax. places are in california and florida though...

Companies selling over the Internet are subject to the same sales tax collection requirements as any other retailers. Remote sellers (including Internet retailers and catalog companies) are generally required to collect taxes where they have a physical selling presence. If they do not have any such presence, they are not required to collect sales taxes.

[Paka]

Recently had the "experience" of learning thru the death of a family member that IF you want to leave your body to science for research (and he did having worked at the UTHSC for 25+ yrs), there ARE RESTRICTIONS.

--You can not be over 6 ft tall

--You can not weigh more than 225 lbs

--Your body will now be kept for 5 yrs (use to be 1 yr) and then cremated with the ashes returned to your family at the end of that period

--You CAN donate your eyes to be harvested up to 24 hours AFTER DEATH

--Most other organs must be harvested immediately

I share this in hopes that it helps someone else thru a difficult process, understand or know that there are options to help others after you draw your last breath, and keep others from the 4 1/2 hour fact finding mission we took on last week at 2am (NOT the optimum time to be trying to learn all this).

Hope this helps someone on this forum...either in understanding what is available or needed.

[majormadmax]

Paka

Sorry to hear about your loss (I read about it somewhere else), and thanks for passing this info on. I am an organ donor (as everyone should be) but never contemplated donating what remains for scientific research.

At this time I am too tall according to the restrictions you posted, but since I expect to "shrink" with old age that might make me eligible later on in life!

There is no greater gift that a person can give than to allow for their organs to help others live after their death. Why people feel the need to "take them with them" is beyond me...

Cheers! M2

[ged_782]

Originally Posted by Deep Forest

And I almost forgot... Amazon.com is now charging sales tax on your online purchases. 8.125% to be exact. I don't see how this is going to help a whole lot with local retailers because they're still charging more than Amazon.

Originally Posted by lessQQmorePEWPEW

when was this? i ordered something from amazon last week and wasnt charged sales tax. places are in california and florida though...

I think this started with orders placed starting July 1. If the order was placed through Amazon on or after that date, it would be subject to sales tax collection in Texas, and I don't think it matters what state the product was shipped from.

You actually are supposed to pay the sales tax yourself on anything ordered over the internet, from a catalog, etc., even if the seller doesn't have a physical presence in the State of Texas. I don't think this is something that is really enforced on individuals, though.

As far as the City's portion of the tax, I wonder what happens if someone lives in Alamo Heights, Castle Hills, etc. Can they determine if the buyer is a resident of one of these small municipalities?