Here’s the problem.
1) People aren’t paying the sales and use tax that they are supposed to when they buy on-line. The law says that you should as the onus of collecting and paying taxes falls to the consumer and not the business when you pay on-line. If people paid this tax like you do in any store there would be no issues at all. The problem is that 99.99% of people dodge this tax.
2) Amazon is crying like a BIIIIIIIITCH attempting to make us feel bad for their affiliates that will “go out of business” when Amazon leaves the state. Amazon isn’t talking about the thousands of items that THEY and not affiliates sell. Amazon is concerned about losing their competitive edge and that’s all.
3) The legislation that mandates having a “physical presence” in the state that you do business with is outdated and antiquated. It was put in place to spur on-line sales when they were virtually nil. Just as the Constitution has been amended, as does this law.
Everyone that complains about the Amazon tax does so for selfish reasons (ex: “I have to pay more for my handbag...book...TV”). None of these people talk about the damage that Amazon and like sites do and have done to brick-and-mortar businesses. Try asking former employees of companies that have gone out of business in large part to Amazon’s unfair tax advantage their thoughts about Amazon.
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Excellent post!