California starts to tax the Internet and scares away jobs

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-a ... 4787.story

California tells online retailers to start collecting sales taxes from customers

Beginning Friday, Amazon.com and other large out-of-state retailers will be required to collect sales taxes on purchases that their California customers make online.

But those taxes may come with a price. Amazon and online retailer Overstock.com Inc. told thousands of California Internet marketing affiliates that they will stop paying commissions for referrals of so-called click-through customers.

That's because the new requirement applies only to online sellers based out of state that have some connection to California, such as workers, warehouses or offices here.

Both Amazon in Seattle and Overstock in Salt Lake City have told affiliates that they would have to move to another state if they wanted to continue earning commissions for referring customers.

"We oppose this bill because it is unconstitutional and counterproductive," Amazon wrote its California business partners Wednesday. Amazon has not indicated what further actions it might take to challenge the California law.

Many of about 25,000 affiliates in California, especially larger ones with dozens of employees, are likely to leave the state, said Rebecca Madigan, executive director of trade group Performance Marketing Assn. The affiliates combined paid $152 million in state income taxes last year, she pointed out.

This is the typical Liberal state mentaility. We have dug ourselves in the biggest hole in the nation financially, so what should we do? Hey, in a time when people are struggling to make money, let's tax them more in our state so they look to move to other states and cost us hundreds of millions in the revenue they are already giving us. F'n idiots! :bash :bash :bash

I hope they lose their asses!! I hope Amazon and Overstock totally pull out of California to show the rest of the nation exactly what NOT to do!

I guess this is different than what Colorado and Oklahoma have done?

I think Colorado and Oklahoma are trying to tax their residents for all internet purchases, regardless of which state the seller is based in. But I don't think they've been able to require the sellers to report the sales.

It sounds like California is just trying to get sales tax from California residents who purchase from companies that have a base in California. Isn't that already pretty common? I wonder if California will be able to get the companies to report the sales?

If anyone knows more about this, please let us know. As a Colorado resident I'd like to know how it is supposed to work here, at least.

Different states, different rules. Hard to keep track of it all. Maybe the feds need to step in to standardize things? This does sound like interstate commerce to me, so they may be entitled. Then again, that could lead to a federal sales tax. :VeryScared:

Colorado did pass similar legislation which caused Amazon to quit their affiliate program in Colorado last year. What Viking fails to mention in his outrage, is that none of the states started a new tax, merely a reporting system. The taxes have always been due on purchases in each of the states. However, out of state sellers competing against local merchants have had an unfair advantage as they have not been required to collect those taxes unlike the local merchants. So this has given them a significant advantage over local merchants. What most states are now doing are requiring the out of state merchants to either collect the tax, or give the state a list of the purchasers so they can collect those taxes directly.

OUR state requires it's citizens to claim and pay the sales taxes they should have paid IF Amazon collected sales tax. so much for your LIBERAL rant (again)