Tax Sale

That download of an Angry Birds app, Katy Perry song, or "Captain America" movie could end up costing consumers more, thanks to a "digital products" tax proposal that's being pushed in Annapolis this year by Gov. Martin O'Malley. The bill, part of a move by the governor to close Internet tax loopholes, includes a so-called "Amazon tax," which would require Maryland affiliate sellers of the world's largest online retailer to collect a sales tax if they do more than $10,000 in business over 12 months.

Eugene Schoene maxed out a credit card, drained his checking account and borrowed money from a relative. It was the only way, he says, to pay an unexpected property tax bill of gigantic proportions. His tab from the city Bureau of Treasury Management's Collections Division: $21,939. Schoene is part of a group of Baltimore homeowners who have recently gotten hefty property tax bills going back four years after revelations that they were improperly collecting "homestead" credits — a widespread problem highlighted in an investigation published Sunday by The Baltimore Sun. A 65-year-old schoolteacher, Schoene says he didn't know he was getting undeserved breaks on three rental homes in Northeast Baltimore.

Your recent editorial advocating taxation of online sales ("The digital divide," June 26) understates the legal and practical difficulties of imposing such a tax. Far from being a "subsidy" or "tax exemption" for such sellers, the current law is based on the Supreme Court's ruling that the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution bars states from imposing sales tax collection responsibilities on companies that are not physically present in...

One of the strangest rituals in Harford County is making the transition to cyberspace this year: The county's annual tax sale is to be conducted over the Internet on June 20. The tax sale is a strange bit of business that's hard to understand. Far from the popular image of a sale on the courthouse steps wherein a slippery character is able to procure the family homestead from folks down on their luck for the price of settling a real estate tax debt, the ritual is one that would be better described as bizarre rather than sinister.

A Baltimore real estate attorney has admitted to conspiring with other local lawyers to rig the bids for millions of dollars' worth of government tax auctions in Maryland, newly unsealed court records show. Attorney John Reiff stated under oath that he and two law partners helped fix bids for the purchase of "large numbers" of property tax debts, or tax liens, sold by tax assessors at auctions in Baltimore and several Maryland counties from 2003 to 2007, according to court filings made public last month.

City grocers are asking officials to repeal a 2-cent tax on bottled beverages, saying that sales have dropped since the tariff was imposed four months ago. Rob Santoni, who lobbied against the bottle tax when it was considered by the City Council, said year-over-year sales at his East Baltimore store have fallen 3 percent since the tax was first collected in late July, and 600 fewer customers are entering each week. "They've taken away that competitive edge," Santoni said Thursday at a news conference in the beverage aisle of the store that bears his name.

Tim Nickels' rowhouse in Baltimore went to tax sale over less than $4 in unpaid property taxes and hundreds of dollars in citations for a messy yard. Perfectly legal, under the city's rules. But Nickels was flabbergasted. Baltimore's annual tax sale, an effort by the city to collect on delinquent accounts, has drawn criticism for putting residents at risk of losing their homes over municipal bills as small as $250. Nickels' past-due tab of $955.60 — including the citation fines and late fees — was one of 6,421 unpaid city bills recently sold as liens to investors, who can move to foreclose later this year if the owners don't pay up with interest.

Members of the Baltimore City Council, seeking to prevent property owners from losing their homes over relatively small unpaid water bills and other municipal debts, are urging state legislators to set new limits on sales of tax liens to investors. A resolution, endorsed by 12 of 15 council members, seeks to restrict the sale of liens for less than $750 — triple the limit amount set by state law. Evicting people over small debts "is simply not in Baltimore's long-term interests," the resolution says.

Baltimore City officials on Monday auctioned liens on 12,689 homes and properties whose owners failed to pay local taxes and municipal bills — a probable record and twice as many as in 2006 in the midst of Baltimore's housing bubble. City officials said the number of liens was the highest in recent memory and reflected the severe economic downturn. Investors placed bids on liens connected to a range of properties in the online auction, from boarded-up shells and vacant lots to a few downtown office buildings.