Now you’ll see how far Amazon’s tentacles reach. Sites that were never “Amazon” sites will suddenly be charging sales tax.
Recently I was doing a lot of online buying and was surprised to learn just how many sites were Walmart sites with a different name.
After years of fighting the imposition of sales tax on a state by state basis – from court battles to corporate exemptions – Amazon has been pursuing a different tack of late. The online retail giant has been adding – not fighting – states to its list of jurisdictions subject to sales tax. You can see the list as it appears today here.
The list is about to get a little longer. Next month, Amazon will begin collecting sales tax in Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, and New Mexico. Those four states are the last to be added to the list, rounding out a complete list of 45 states where Amazon will now collect sales tax. That means that as of next month, Amazon will be collecting sales tax nationwide.
To be fair, they are not charging sales tax. They are collecting sales tax. I am not agreeing with their direction on this,just stating the proper role they are playing.
Semantics.
No merchant keeps the sales tax and we always say that we are “charged sales tax.”
This is in part due to Colorado winning on an Amazon tax or all online retailers having the choice to either collect the tax or report to the state what residents are purchasing tax free so they can report and pay the taxable income. Other states have followed suit.
http://www.denverpost.com/2016/12/12/supreme-court-colorado-internet-sales-tax-law/
I buy a lot thru amazon and that sales tax adds up. Many times I have reduced my order because the taxes are just ridiculous. Taxes are detrimental to commerce.
Same with “shipping and handling.” I don’t mind actual shipping charges but when basic shipping is $3.99 and it only cost $1.99 to ship they pocket the extra $2 as profit. Or if I get 5 items from the same supplier they charge $3.99 5 times instead of consolidating, even if it all comes in one box.
And “handling” is just a scam and is a normal part of doing business which should come out of the profit on the item.
And the free market cried as the Gubmint reached in and grabbed their ‘Veg’….
I assume this is just for items that are fulfilled and sold by Amazon? Many retailers on Amazon that sell their products using Amazon platform but don’t use Amazon fulfillment.
It wasn’t necessary for Amazon to choose to be a tax collector, but that’s Amazon’s decision. I lived a long time before Amazon came along, and I got along fine without them. Now that Amazon has chosen to be an arm of the tax collector, again, I am going to get along just fine without Amazon. I can hold a grudge a long time. When orange juice prices jacked up the next day after a Florida freeze in 1975 I stopped buying orange juice. It was 30 years before I bought more orange juice. That, friends, is how it’s done.
I was looking at job opportunities and came across this:
Amazon is an Equal Opportunity-Affirmative Action Employer – Minority / Female / Disability / Veteran / Gender Identity / Sexual Orientation.
Fuck me running!
White boy?…GET LOST!
Re the statement about buying stuff from a site and it turning out to be walmart: I just bought something from an ebay seller with free shipping, and it was delivered from Vegas to PHX in 2 days. By Amazon and their own delivery contractors. No mention of any connection between the ebay seller and amazon. No record of the transaction on my amazon account. WTF?????
I’z be glad I don’t live in a place with sales tax! We got sea tax,
you see that ocean? It can only come on an American flagged ship,
from an American left coast port, and we are gonna phuck the dog shit
out of you for it. That’s sea tax.
If they are agents (tax collectors) of the State (any State) they should be remunerated for that role.
Or, if Amazon wasn’t a socialist stoogery and decided to stand up for American Freedom and Liberty, they’d tell the states to “Go Fuck Themselves!”
Dream on …
izlamo delenda est …
What part does the state play in the transaction?
Do they guarantee satisfaction? Delivery? Quality?
This is nothing more than: “I demand a piece of the action! Because I’m stronger than you, and have an exclusive right to violence.”
Sessions should be charging these states with Racketeering – this is nothing but extortion, and everybody knows it but nobody wants to talk about it.
izlamo delenda est …