Amazon Supports Internet Sales Tax (What the...?)
4:00 PM - December 1, 2011 - By Ross A. Lincoln -
Source : Wall Street Journal
This is the sound of someone trying to turn inevitability into inevitabilty-ade
ZoomThough Internet-based businesses have long resisted calls to require sales tax on online transactions, Amazon.com has all but accepted that the tide is turning inexorably. At a congressional hearing discussing the proposed Marketplace Fairness Act, Amazon global public policy VP Paul Misener said the company "strongly supports" the establishment of a consistent national sales tax framework," indicating Amazon's preference for "an even-handed federal framework for state sales tax collection". He added that "Congress -- and only Congress -- may, should and feasibly can authorize states to require out-of-state sellers to collect the sales tax already owed."
The Marketplace Fairness act seeks to get around restrictions imposed by the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Quill Corp. v. North Dakota. That decision held that mail-order retailers are not required to collect use taxes due to the complexity of doing so. Though the decision did not specifically deal with sales taxes (different from use taxes), it has long been interpreted to do so, the result being that states have largely been unable to charge sales taxes for online sales. Though online businesses have typically framed their opposition to sales taxes as due to bookkeeping nightmares that would result from calculating costs on a state-by-state basis, the competitive advantage online businesses have over brick and mortar stores forced to charge sales taxes is another reason for their resistance.
Amazon's show of support for a national standard would appear to be tacit acknowledgment that the question of imposing sales taxes on online businesses is a matter of 'when', not 'if'. Getting out in front of that tide ensures the best possible deal for affected businesses. Consumers will have to decide for themselves if ordering goods online is more convenient than shopping in a physical location.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Amazon-online-Congress-Sales-Tax,news-13367.html
I'm in agreement. On both the state and federal level, many of these governments are kind of peeved when it comes to Amazon and sales tax, and their ability to NOT have to pay it because of language setup in law. Their fault, not Amazon's. Of course, there are a lot of other issues that require decisions on the federal level to address, but that's a different discussion. Do you think it's inevitable that online distributors will no longer be able to avoid a sales tax? This will include companies like Amazon.com, Newegg.com, and Overstock.com.
4:00 PM - December 1, 2011 - By Ross A. Lincoln -
Source : Wall Street Journal
This is the sound of someone trying to turn inevitability into inevitabilty-ade
ZoomThough Internet-based businesses have long resisted calls to require sales tax on online transactions, Amazon.com has all but accepted that the tide is turning inexorably. At a congressional hearing discussing the proposed Marketplace Fairness Act, Amazon global public policy VP Paul Misener said the company "strongly supports" the establishment of a consistent national sales tax framework," indicating Amazon's preference for "an even-handed federal framework for state sales tax collection". He added that "Congress -- and only Congress -- may, should and feasibly can authorize states to require out-of-state sellers to collect the sales tax already owed."
The Marketplace Fairness act seeks to get around restrictions imposed by the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Quill Corp. v. North Dakota. That decision held that mail-order retailers are not required to collect use taxes due to the complexity of doing so. Though the decision did not specifically deal with sales taxes (different from use taxes), it has long been interpreted to do so, the result being that states have largely been unable to charge sales taxes for online sales. Though online businesses have typically framed their opposition to sales taxes as due to bookkeeping nightmares that would result from calculating costs on a state-by-state basis, the competitive advantage online businesses have over brick and mortar stores forced to charge sales taxes is another reason for their resistance.
Amazon's show of support for a national standard would appear to be tacit acknowledgment that the question of imposing sales taxes on online businesses is a matter of 'when', not 'if'. Getting out in front of that tide ensures the best possible deal for affected businesses. Consumers will have to decide for themselves if ordering goods online is more convenient than shopping in a physical location.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Amazon-online-Congress-Sales-Tax,news-13367.html
I'm in agreement. On both the state and federal level, many of these governments are kind of peeved when it comes to Amazon and sales tax, and their ability to NOT have to pay it because of language setup in law. Their fault, not Amazon's. Of course, there are a lot of other issues that require decisions on the federal level to address, but that's a different discussion. Do you think it's inevitable that online distributors will no longer be able to avoid a sales tax? This will include companies like Amazon.com, Newegg.com, and Overstock.com.
