Dave Harman writes from sunny El Paso:

>Yes, but CDNOW charges "tax" whereas Tower doesn't.  This makes Tower
>more competitive than CDNOW, whose "tax" adds quite a bit to the total
>price because they "tax" not only the merchandise but also the shipping.

This is news to me concerning CDNOW.  I realize that their prices are
higher than Towers, but I've never found any reason to think CDNOW charges
tax.  Why would they do this if not required by law? How can Tower avoid
the law? Could Dave please indicate how he knows that CDNOW charges a tax?
I charge tax for my services but only because I have no legal choice.

Traditionally, no company is going to tax customers unless mandated by law
to do so.  What's going on? Is El Paso or Texas getting into a 'tax tough"
mode with internet sales? Sorry for all the questions, but Dave's comments
are very surprising.  Perhaps, Dave is talking about some kind of 'hidden'
tax, not a sales tax.  I like to think I keep up with U.S.  tax law just
like I do with residential waste.

Don Satz

 [It's a classical music tax. We started it out here in California.  :-) -Dave]