Posted on 06/30/2011 6:46:03 AM PDT by Hojczyk
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law California's tax on Internet sales through affiliate advertising which will immediately cut small-business website revenue 20% to 30%, experts say.
The bill, AB 28X, takes effect immediately. The state Board of Equalization says the tax will raise $200 million a year, but critics claim it will raise nothing because online retailers will end their affiliate programs rather than collect the tax.
"This law won't impact Amazon that much but it is a crisis for website owners who make revenue by placing ads on their websites for thousands of online retailers," Madigan said. "Most of them don't have a physical presence in California."
California Retailers Association stated: "We thank Governor Jerry Brown and the leaders in the California State Legislature who have demonstrated their leadership and commitment to California businesses by passing and signing e-fairness into law. Small and large businesses across the state have been held at a major disadvantage by the current law that out-of-state online companies like Amazon.com and Overstock.com have exploited for years. This has cost us jobs and revenues."
The U.S. Supreme Court in 1992 ruled that states cannot tax businesses that aren't physically within their boundaries. Such taxes would regulate interstate commerce, which is a federal government prerogative
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
Typical Liberal action - everybody loses, no one wins.
> The U.S. Supreme Court in 1992 ruled that states cannot
> tax businesses that aren’t physically within their
> boundaries. Such taxes would regulate interstate
> commerce, which is a federal government prerogative
So, how can Californicate pass this tax?
Is it because the Feds don’t enforce anti-tax decisions or provisions anymore?
Are taxes or any kind another form of Holders’ “People”?
Or is it because Holders’ “People” benefit most from confiscatory taxes?
What’s the old saying about people pay taxes not businesses?
Nevertheless, way to go CA, drive more business away.
Groups similar to this “California Retailers Association” have been running radio ads here in the Philly market, begging people to “call their representatives” to tell them to pass a similar tax in PA.
“The state Board of Equalization”
...WTH!? I’m in VA and we don’t have one of these. Thank the Lord!
Sounds like something out of Atlas Shrugged. What next? The Anti-Dog-Eat-Dog Rule?
In other news:
O.C. manufacturer moves, adds 270 jobs in D.C.
Nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition!
Part of the problem with liberal math is they look at a big number like “online sales” and think their new tax regulation is going to apply to that big number. The problem is that a HUGE portion of that big “online sales” number is already collecting sales taxes. Every sale on Walmart.com or BestBuy.com or BarnesandNoble.com or HomeDepot.com or Academy.com or similar retailers’ online catalog is already taxed at the sales tax rate of the purchaser’s state. So CA or similar states will not see some big increase in tax revenue.
Not that it will change anything.
bookmark
Mission accomplished: More unemployment, more dependency, more weakening of the economy.
The State Board of Equalization is CA’s IRS. Has been in existence for a long, long time.
Not only will the expected revenue not be generated, all web retailers who have CA affiliates will drop those affiliates, which means the income tax generated by the income these affiliates make, plus the sales taxes they pay when buying things in CA, will be lost when all those jobs are lost. Rather than and increase in revenue I see a loss.
Which state will be the last holdout? You know this is going to snowball, as states view this as “easy money” and if all states do it, none will be held to account.
Good for Amazon - cause and effect is an excellent teaching method, but it only works if the entity to be burdened is willing to walk away.
That name is eerily similar to the "Equalization of Opportunity" bill in Atlas Shrugged.
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