Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 30, 1993                   TAG: 9309300020
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Ray Reed
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SNAKE-WISE, VALLEY'S READY

A: You should be safe, because you obviously are concerned about snakes and avoid them.

The three hospital emergency rooms in the Roanoke Valley reported having a total of 28 vials of snake bite anti-venom serum on hand. The hospitals will share the serum if needed.

That should be enough for three victims of serious rattlesnake or copperhead bites, but every case is an individual one, according to information provided by hospital pharmacists.

The instructions say to administer two vials for the average victim and additional dosages depending on the victim's response to symptoms such as swelling and shortness of breath. Children would need more serum than adults.

Watching your step in the woods and other snake habitats usually is enough precaution. The bite victims in the news this year often picked up the snakes that bit them.

Mail-order taxes

Q: How does the state of Virginia determine what catalog purchases an individual has made from out-of-state retailers and decide how much sales tax he should pay at income tax time? Hasn't this been ruled in violation of some regulation of interstate commerce? F.F.E., Roanoke

A: It may seem impossible to track consumers' catalog purchases, but Virginia is trying.

Our state's tax department is talking tough, writing 3,400 direct marketers nationwide that it might subpoena their customer lists and business records.

Whether the tax people could enforce such subpoenas - and they haven't tried - almost certainly would be tested in court.

However, the threat has induced 20 out-of-state businesses to register to collect Virginia's sales tax, says Janie Bowen of the state Department of Taxation. That's the real aim of the intimidating letter to direct marketers in July - Virginia wants retailers to collect the tax at point of sale.

This year, 15,000 Virginians complied with the state's request that every citizen pay the 4.5 percent levy on their untaxed catalog orders, anteing up $447,000.

The tax department sent survey forms to some of those taxpayers, asking them to name the companies they did business with. Seven hundred people responded, and the businesses they named will receive further pressure to collect Virginia's tax, Bowen said.

"Virginia is moving to the front of the pack in pursuing mail-order merchants for sales tax," says the State Taxation Institute, an Atlanta watchdog group for direct marketers.

L.L. Bean, however, is one retailer that isn't budging. Bean insists it doesn't have to collect the Virginia tax. "We don't have a business presence in Virginia," said spokeswoman Catherine Hartnett, meaning Bean doesn't have any property or employees here.

Now for the second part of your question: Yes, the Supreme Court did rule against the states' argument that mail-order companies should collect their tax. But the court left some loopholes, and Virginia is exploring them.

Got a question about something that might affect other people too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.