Amazon.com can move forward on tax referendum

SacBee: Capitol Alert ^ | 7/18/11 | Kevin Yamamura

[SmithL]

Amazon.com can begin collecting signatures to overturn California's new online tax collection law after state Attorney General Kamala Harris issued ballot language Monday for the retailer's proposed referendum.

The retailer and its online allies will have until Sept. 27 to gather 505,000 signatures to qualify the referendum for the ballot. Should it qualify, the state would have to suspend its new sales tax law until voters decide on the matter next June.

[troy McClure]

This will be good, SEIU vs Amazon.

[rottndog]

Eagerly awaiting a petition to sign...

Good for Amazon not to just roll over. CA is just to big of a market for them to walk away from.

[Thom Pain]

Doesn’t matter. If Amazon wins it will be vacated by the 9th circus.

[catbertz]

I usually see petitioners outside of major stores. I wonder if Amazon will collect signatures outside of Walmarts, Targets, shopping malls and grocery stores?

[max americana]

There are a couple of companies in L.A. who have their own petition guys. We have awesome weather right now so it won’t take that long to get those sigs. Mexifornia is just too big a state to leave, and Amazon also knew the importance of TX as a rising state that’s why they compromised with the congress there.

[GOP Poet]

I’ll sign.

[Eye of Unk]

This last saturday I went shopping for an affordable optical transit so I can shoot the elevation and grade for a large monolithic slap in front of my house. I do all my own concrete work.

I have several but none are accurate or reliable, and the local Lowes and Home Depot want $300 for a new one, even the pawn shop wanted $250 and that was for an older used one.

I want on to use as I drive a concrete mixer in Wasilla, Alaska and occasionally I have to return to the yard with extra concrete, the two last times I did use the already paid for concrete that would just be dumped back at the yard the slabs I poured are anything but level.

So where did I find a new CST/Berger 24x auto leveling transit? You guessed it, at Amazon for $129 and free shipping. Bought and is on its way.

Thank You Amazon.

[Schatze]

Eagerly awaiting a petition to sign...

Me too. Good for Amazon -- those morons in Sacramento need some pushback.

[sarasmom]

Wait a minute here.

I thought Amazon has already fired/de-certified all of its California “affiliates/sales associates”, and have no current company locations in California?

If so, they are only liable for back-taxes due on sales that were both shipped to California and billed by any of their former affiliates/sales associates who were located in California, who did not supply Amazon with a business sales tax exemption certificate, or a 1099.
If Amazon has the business tax certificates on file, or alternately reported to the IRS the individual 1099 forms (which they are required to maintain for seven years) then Amazon obviously does not owe any sales taxes in California, and the audit will be fairly painless.
OTOH, those 10,000 California “affiliates” are in a world of hurt, as far as back taxes and penalty fines are concerned, if they did not properly account for income derived from the resale of products supplied by Amazon, and re-sold in California.

I hate fraudulent tax cheats as much as I hate fraudulent welfare/medicare/medicaid recipients.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I hate fraudulent tax cheats...

---

The cheats are the Californians, not the out of state retailers.

Those who actually vote for their representatives and laws.

[newzjunkey]

9th circus can do what they like but SCOTUS has already weighed in on this issue. 9th circus will just be reversed as usual.

[sarasmom]

Then I think the Internet community's focus should be targeted on the California tax cheaters.

Amazon either knowingly enabled/abetted them, or they didn't.

The tax certificates and/or 1099s are all that is required to answer the question of who is running this particular scam.

[newzjunkey]

Pay attention! No one is saying the taxes were not accounted for as income tax by the affiliates. They are not "sales associates."

The affiliate sells nothing directly, products are not being re-sold by them in California.

This is a naked attempt by the state to get sales taxes through a back door and Amazon said, that's fine we'll just drop all affiliates in CA and you'll end up losing that income tax those affiliates paid and get none of the sales taxes you were after.

[newzjunkey]

You haven't any idea what's going on.

There is no scam. There are no tax cheaters.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I hope your brown short fits comfortably.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I hope your brown shirt fits comfortably.

[Bob]

If so, they are only liable for back-taxes due on sales that were both shipped to California and billed by any of their former affiliates/sales associates who were located in California, who did not supply Amazon with a business sales tax exemption certificate, or a 1099.

That's a very interesting analysis except for the minor point that you really have no clue what you're talking about.

Amazon affiliates put links on their websites. Visitors to those sites click on the links and are directed to Amazon's website. Some of those visitors then buy from Amazon (in another state) and the product is shipped (from another state) to the customer. The affiliate gets a commission for sending the customer to Amazon. They have absolutely no involvement with billing the customer nor shipping the product.