5 Things Nov. 26: Cyber Monday Tips, Parent-Child Book Club and More

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1. Parent-Child Book Club
Norton Public Library will hold Parent-Child Book Club at 5:30 p.m. Talk about books and share snacks. This program is for children in grades 2 through 4 and their parents. This month’s book is “Judy Moody Gets Famous,” by Megan McDonald.

2. College funding workshop
There is a free college funding workshop at Dedham Public Library, 43 Church St., at 6:30 p.m. Learn how to earn up to $15,000 in scholarships per child, how “expensive” private schools can cost less than the “less expensive” state schools, how to negotiate with colleges to obtain a better award package and more. Attendance is limited.  Register by email to clarsen@coladvgrp.com or call 781-740-1175.

3. Grossman calls on U.S. Senate Finance Chair to approve uniform online sales tax
Treasurer Steven Grossman issued a letter to U.S. Senator Max Baucus, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, urging him to support legislative efforts to allow states to implement uniform Internet sales tax laws.

Online retailers only have to charge a consumer a sales tax if they have a physical presence in that consumer’s state. This provision results in many online purchases not being assessed the Commonwealth’s 6.25 percent sales tax, creating a disincentive for residents to shop at local businesses that support jobs and the Massachusetts economy. Further, large internet sellers that have built and invested in retail stores in Massachusetts, such as Apple and Staples, are required to charge sales tax for online sales, while their competitors with no Massachusetts investment are not.  Presently, there are more than 500,000 retail jobs in Massachusetts.

Grossman pointed to bipartisan legislation authored by Senators Mike Enzi and Richard Durbin as an example of a fix at the federal level. While Massachusetts officials have entered into negotiations with Amazon.com to discuss charging an online sales tax, a federal law is generally viewed as the most effective way to compel all online retailers without a physical presence in a state to charge that state’s sales tax.   

A recent independent study has concluded that, in addition to creating a level playing field for local businesses, Massachusetts could have collected $387 million in additional sales tax revenue in 2011 if it had the ability to tax Internet and other remote sellers.  That amount is expected to more than double to $783 million by 2020.

4. Tips to avoid identity theft this Cyber Monday
IDentity Theft 911 offers the following ways consumers can protect themselves against online scams and identity theft while shopping online.
- Shop on secure sites. They’ll have “https” in the address bar and a yellow padlock logo to the right of the Web browser address bar.
- Enter correct URLs. Hackers often buy misspelled domains to trick people into entering personal information.
- Never enter your Social Security number or passwords to email and bank accounts.
- Use different passwords for online retailers, personal email and banks accounts.
- Read site reviews before making any purchases.
- Never save personal information on an online retail website.
- Read website return and privacy policies before making purchases.
- Be aware of phishing email scams that include website links advertising incredible deals.
- Use credit cards, not debit cards.
- Never send payment information via regular email.
- Uncheck boxes advertising “additional offers.”
- Secure mobile phones used for shopping, back them up regularly and enable security features such as power on password and inactivity time lock.
- Install and update antivirus, anti-malware and firewall software on your computer.

5. High near 48, low around 27
Today will be sunny, with a high near 48. West wind will be 6 to 9 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low around 27 and calm wind.