quote:Whether charging sales tax on all sales because it is an open event for the public instead of just TCA membership discourages attendance remains to be seen.
Its not really an issue of whether customers have to pay sales tax. They already do in the dealer halls.
The issue is requiring member table holders to register with the Pennsylvania tax department, collect sales tax, and submit whatever else is required. Most casual sellers aren't going to do it.
Once again, most folks on this board seem to be focused on the dealer halls, so they don't see the issue, and/or don't care.
There are plenty of TCA members whose interest lies in the member halls.
When I attend York, most of the customers I see are in the dealer halls (esp. orange). Most of the time if the customers, like me, go into the member halls, they may buy one or two items from any one vendor and then go on to another. I have not seen a lot of really expensive or new items in the member halls, mostly old stuff. Now if I drive 250 miles to York and spend money for gas to get there, do you really think I am going to quibble about sales tax in a member hall if I am there to find something that I might not be able to get back home? When it comes to expensive or new stuff most of the people I see go into the Orange Hall, and, as you suggested, pay the tax anyway. If a vendor is going to go out of business because of a tax requirement, they were probably going to go out of business anyway. There are others who are quite willing to buy their stock of used trains.
