
Amazon Takes Sales Tax War to California  - aarghh
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/technology/amazon-takes-sales-tax-war-to-california.html?hp
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ajkessler
I found this quote hilarious:

“I don’t think we want to send the message that companies can fund a political
campaign for a referendum and maybe your customers won’t be subject to sales
tax.”

Because it's not like some companies funded political campaigns to get this
measure passed in the first place.
([http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870439650457620...](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704396504576204791377862836.html))

Heaven forbid another big company ask what the citizenry thinks...

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blahedo
It's really patently unfair for purchases from Amazon.com not to require sales
taxes while purchases from BarnesAndNoble.com do require sales taxes. That's
what this all boils down to. Amazon is not, on some level, competing directly
with your local friendly indy bookshop (if you still have one), and that's not
the right direction to look for a comparison... but they are competing with
other online booksellers, who have to pay sales tax on their online book sales
if and only if they _also_ have a bricks-and-mortar business. That's dumb.

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kevinskii
Sales taxes fund local infrastructure. Why should Amazon have to pay for a
fire department that it will never possibly need?

In regards to the "fairness" question, put it a different way: It's unfair
that brick and mortar companies can offer their customers immediate
gratification and the ability to physically inspect items before buying.
Amazon can do neither.

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Anechoic
_Why should Amazon have to pay for a fire department that it will never
possibly need?_

It's certainly in Amazon's interest that their _customers_ have access to
those local FD's. Even if one doesn't agree with the FD example, those sales
taxes also pay for local roads and surely Amazon makes use of those.

(Lest I be accused of being a hypocrite, I do pay the local sales tax for
internet purchases via the Massachusetts 'safe harbor' provision for small
purchases and itemized listings of my larger purchases with my state tax
filings)

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yummyfajitas
Amazon doesn't use local roads. Fedex, UPS, etc do.

Those companies all have a local presence and (presumably) pay their taxes to
the state in which they operate. The taxes are then passed on to Amazon or the
consumer in the form of higher prices on shipping.

As for local fire departments, I use Pivotal Tracker. Should Pivotal Labs be
forced to pay Maharashtra taxes since it's in their best interest that my
company not burn down?

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babl
With 2 day shipping through the prime service, they pretty much emulate a
local retailer. The prices are awesome but I can see how their tax advantages
give them an unfair advantage on local competition.

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X-Istence
Because the user that is receiving the item is tax dodging Amazon should be
punished?

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babl
I wasn't aware anyone actually declared their Amazon purchases at tax time.

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dprice1
I do as well. I sum up my online purchases from Amazon, add my wife's in, and
pay the money. It goes to funding the things I use: Roads, firefighters, the
library, the park next to my house. Heck, there was a fire two weeks ago in
the apartment building next to where I live-- we sure as hell appreciated the
firemen who came at 4:00am to prevent a catastrophe.

The argument above about how it's impossible/expensive/complicated/etc. to
collect sales tax seems exceedingly bogus to me especially given the nature of
HN: Sounds like a business problem to be solved, not some byzantine task.
Someone should go make an online sales-tax-computing web service and be done
with it.

Oh wait, someone did: <http://salestaxwebservice.com/>,
<http://www.avalara.com/products/avatax/calc>, et cetera.

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earl
What's even more annoying is amazon damn well does have a large physical
presence in CA:

a2z: <http://a2z.com/> : SF, OC, and San Luis Obispo;

A9: near caltrain, and from their page, "As A9 is a wholly owned and operated
subsidiary of Amazon.com, we have the strength that comes from being part of a
Fortune 500 company, and the flexibility and energy of a Silicon Valley start-
up."

I'm ambivalent about the exception to collecting taxes for companies without
an instate presence, but this is pure bullshit. Amazon operates multiple
companies with hundreds of employees in CA. Just like other companies that
take advantage of what CA has to offer, they should be forced to pay the tax
man.

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dangrossman
It's not as if Amazon is arguing that if the subsidiaries sell products in
California they wouldn't be subject to sales tax. If you (earl) bought stock
in a company in another state, does that give you a physical presence there
and make whatever you sell subject to their sales tax? That company you are a
partial (or full) owner of already pays sales tax in its state.

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aphexairlines
a2z makes the Amazon Appstore and Android MP3 player. So who gets taxed on
those digital purchases?

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dangrossman
Appstore apps are sold by Amazon Digital Services Inc. They also sell all the
downloadable games and such on Amazon.com. I don't know what state that
company is in, but that'd be the state that gets taxed.

