Sales Taxes
Sales taxes have been a long-term issue with Amazon. The Annual Report notes that sever-al states filed formal complaints with the company in March 2003. The basis for the indi-vidual suits is not detailed, but the basic legal position is that any company that has a physical presence in a state (“nexus” by the terms of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling), is sub-ject to that state’s laws and must then collect the required sales taxes and remit them to the state. The challenge is that the level of presence has never been clearly defined. Ama-zon argues that it has no physical presence in most states and is therefore not required to collect taxes. The most recent challenges are based on Amazon’s “affiliate” program. Ama-zon pays a small commission to people who run Web sites and redirect traffic to the Amazon site. For instance, a site might mention a book and then include a link to the book on the Amazon site. Several states have passed laws claiming that these relationships constitute a “sales force” and open up Amazon to taxation within any state where these affiliates reside. In response, Amazon dropped the affiliate program in several states, has initiated a legal challenge in the state of New York, and in 2011, negotiated a new deal signed into law in California [Letzing 2011]. In the California deal, Amazon obtained a delay in collecting tax-es for at least a year, in exchange for locating a new distribution center in the state and creating at least 10,000 full-time jobs. Amazon is also asking the U.S. Congress to create a new federal law to deal with the sales-tax issue. However, because the state sales tax issue is driven by the interstate commerce clause in the U.S. Constitution, a simple law will not alter the underlying principles. However, if Congress desired, it might create a Federal Sales tax law with some method of apportioning the money to states. But, do not bet on any major tax laws during a Presidential election year.
ภาษีขายSales taxes have been a long-term issue with Amazon. The Annual Report notes that sever-al states filed formal complaints with the company in March 2003. The basis for the indi-vidual suits is not detailed, but the basic legal position is that any company that has a physical presence in a state (“nexus” by the terms of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling), is sub-ject to that state’s laws and must then collect the required sales taxes and remit them to the state. The challenge is that the level of presence has never been clearly defined. Ama-zon argues that it has no physical presence in most states and is therefore not required to collect taxes. The most recent challenges are based on Amazon’s “affiliate” program. Ama-zon pays a small commission to people who run Web sites and redirect traffic to the Amazon site. For instance, a site might mention a book and then include a link to the book on the Amazon site. Several states have passed laws claiming that these relationships constitute a “sales force” and open up Amazon to taxation within any state where these affiliates reside. In response, Amazon dropped the affiliate program in several states, has initiated a legal challenge in the state of New York, and in 2011, negotiated a new deal signed into law in California [Letzing 2011]. In the California deal, Amazon obtained a delay in collecting tax-es for at least a year, in exchange for locating a new distribution center in the state and creating at least 10,000 full-time jobs. Amazon is also asking the U.S. Congress to create a new federal law to deal with the sales-tax issue. However, because the state sales tax issue is driven by the interstate commerce clause in the U.S. Constitution, a simple law will not alter the underlying principles. However, if Congress desired, it might create a Federal Sales tax law with some method of apportioning the money to states. But, do not bet on any major tax laws during a Presidential election year.
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