Politirant Political Forum

http://news.yahoo.com/amazon-along-internet-sales-tax-194928811.html

Just a few months ago, the giant retailer was filing lawsuits and dropping affiliates to combat states trying to charge online sales tax. Now, Amazon is on board.

As states have struggled to find new tax revenues over the past couple of deficit years, many have sought to levy sales tax on online transactions. In most cases, the sales tax is not charged when you buy online; while most state laws require online shoppers to declare purchases and pay a "use tax" on goods at the end of the year, almost no one does. And when states tried to force retailers like Amazon to make the tax collections, they were met with determined resistance.

But now, the Los Angeles Times reports, the company is signing on to a bipartisan federal bill that will clear the way for states to more easily charge sales tax for online commerce, erasing an advantage online businesses had over brick-and-mortar competitors, and speeding a new revenue stream to cash-strapped governments without having to get a cent of new spending through a clogged Congress.

Work remains to be done to square the Senate bill with a less expansive House counterpart, and, if passed, it would still be up to individual states to decide whether to collect the tax. But Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a co-sponsor and, the Times notes, a former governor, said the path forward is clear.

"If I were president of an online retailer," he told the paper, "... I would look at this week in Washington, D.C., and I'd make my plans to start collecting sales taxes wherever I sold things in the United States."


Lamar Alexander Republican/Conservative already has that bi-partisan support. This means both parties are looking to raise taxes anywhere they can. The Games People play. I tell ya! 

My hunch is that they spent a gazillion dollars on a legal team to determine that they don't have a snowballs chance in hell to win.

And, big box retailers probably spent an equal gazillion dollars on determining the legality (or lack of) of internet tax-free sales in order to position themselves to argue for the tax.

At the end of the day, people are buying shit tax free online.  Yeah, I like that personally but there is a clear tax disparity here, at least the logical chunk of blubber in my brain suggests so.

So be it.

Well, don't I feel silly. I've been ordering from Amazon for years and I had no idea I wasn't paying sales tax. 

I don't buy a lot of shit online (or at all for that matter), but I just ordered a computer game today.

It was only 15 bucks but I guess I squeezed in that tax break.

 

What game?

Some states you pay taxes...if the warehouse is in your state then you pay. At least that's the law here in CA, no physical presence means Amazon doesn't pay tax, but it takes longer to get stuff. I always choose the free shipping. Maybe they have a warehouse in NJ so you get stuff fast even with saver shipping but end up paying taxes?

I'll have to pay attention next time I order. They must have a lot of warehouses in the NY/NJ area. I usually get everything very quickly. Never noticed if I paid sales tax though. That reminds me. I'll have to as ADMIN if he saw my order.