Posted on 02/10/2011 1:13:01 PM PST by trumandogz
AUSTIN, Texas — Online retail giant Amazon.com will close its suburban Dallas distribution center after a dispute with the state over millions in state sales taxes.
The Associated Press obtained an e-mail Thursday sent to Amazon employees by the company's vice president of operations. Amazon's Dave Clark writes that the center will close April 12 due to Texas' "the unfavorable regulatory climate."
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
I pay that once a year shipping fee and throughout the year whatever I order is shipped free. This is great especially if you order frequently.
_________
But there’s a catch; this applys only to products sold directly by Amazon.
A lot of products I buy on that site aren’t sold by Amazon.
I ordered three Kindle books from Amazon today. Lo and behold, they were here in about 3 minutes.
_________
I’m considering ordering a Kindle.
Which model is best?
What if you don’t have Wi-Fi- will it still work?
I can't get around that fairness argument either, especially with so many bricks & mortar businesses closing because they can't compete with Internet vendors.
As I understand it, one of the main impediments to implementing Internet sales taxes has been the paperwork/employee time burden it would impose on vendors. With the right sales tax software, that burden almost vanishes.
I won't like Internet sales taxes, but I think they are coming.
I love Amazon also. Never had a bad deal.
They would tax the ground we walk on, if they could get away with it. They already figured out a way to tax the air we breathe--by taxing the CO2 we breathe out. The only way to stop this madness is to toss them out of office.
“They would tax the ground we walk on, if they could get away with it. They already figured out a way to tax the air we breathe”
George Harrison agreed.
Bureaucrats call it loopholes.
Citizens call it liberty.
It’s good to see Amazon shirking their corporate duty?
Interesting... did Al Capone getting taken down bother you also?
Keep the Internet tax free. It is America’s Hong Kong.
The net effect will be to break the back of big government on the state and local level. Replace blanket taxation with user fees and privatization.
A tax free Internet is liberties best friend.
Or you could just eliminate sales taxes.
Why must the solution be tax increases?
Good for Amazon. This is the way all businesses should respond to government tyranny.
Think I’ll order a book and a DVD to show my appreciation.
As far as I know, every state with a sales tax has the same policy - physical presence means you collect sales tax. After all - that’s all the Federal Overlords will allow.
Amazon has a distribution center in Texas and claims they don’t need to collect taxes on merchandise sent to Texas residents? Good luck with that.
Try telling Home Depot you don’t need to pay taxes because you bought it on line.
A flat tax on personal income is the ideal way to go, but only for those items of government that are truly general welfare.
For the rest, user fees.
???
Let me tell you how it will be,
There’s one for you, nineteen for me,
‘Cause I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
Should five per cent appear too small,
Be thankful I don’t take it all.
‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
(If you drive a car ), I’ll tax the street,
(If you try to sit ), I’ll tax your seat,
(If you get too cold ), I’ll tax the heat,
(If you take a walk ), I’ll tax your feet.
Taxman.
‘Cause I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
Don’t ask me what I want it for
(Taxman! Mister Wilson!)
If you don’t want to pay some more
(Taxman! Mister Heath!),
‘Cause I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
Now my advice for those who die, (Taxman!)
Declare the pennies on your eyes, (Taxman!)
‘Cause I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
And you’re working for no-one but me,
(Taxman).
Texas has sales tax, but no State income tax. And property taxes are local (mostly for schools).
Great song.
I wish all companies had the balls that amazon does. They fight all the way down to the wire with states, and then if the states acts stupidly anyway, they just close out all operations in those states. That’s the way all companies should behave.
I’m still trying to figure out why employers collect taxes but can’t charge the time involved to the local, State and Federal governments. Like they should be tax collectors in the first place.
You can see where this is headed with all record keepers besides just online transactions that are going to have to report transactions to the IRS which might as well be the Federal Government. They will end up knowing more about you than your mother. Eliminating paper money in lieu of electronic payments would be the icing on the cake from a government point of view.
Not sure where Amazon is going to run to, Mexico (you get shot at and need bribe money), China is to far away, Canada maybe or an understanding State. Texas needs to nip this in the bud and quickly.
Amazon saves me a lot of time and trouble (travel time). I don’t need them passing on more costs to me.
Face it, government(s) are running out of other people’s money.
NC is suing Amazon for a list of NC residents who were not charged NC sales tax. NC wants to bill those NC residents for those taxes going back several years. As a result, I no longer buy from Amazon. I was a long time happy Amazon customer.
NC’s tax form tells you to list such non-taxed purchases and pay the tax, but most people do not do that, of course.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.