Amazon.com Sues New York State
by Matt at Jun 2nd, 2008
Because New York State just doesn’t get it.. they can’t solve their budget problems by raising taxes.
Amazon.com, the online book retailer, and electronics Newegg.com has filed suit against New York in response to a new law requiring online retailers to collect sales tax from buyers in the state.
Rival Overstock.com took a less complex measure: it has canceled relationships with its 3,400 New York-based affiliates, according to the The New York Times.
“We can’t afford to have our New York affiliates up online if it subjects us to New York sales taxes,” said Jonathan Johnson, SVP of corporate affairs for Overstock.
The company seeks to “[show] the New York governor and legislature that this is bad for New York businesses.”
And guess who also isn’t happy about this? Me. I frequently make online purchases at Amazon.com and other places. This evening I noticed the new tax when buying a few books. As a former resident of Massachusetts, my default address on my Amazon.com account is my former Massachusetts address. So, I switched the shipping address to my current New York address, and lo and behold, I was then charged taxes. Amazon and other online retailers had to start collecting sales taxes from buyers from New York state on June 1. This comes just as the cigarette tax in New York claims the honor of being the highest in the nation.
UPDATE: Overstock.com follows suit…
Im not sure what you are upset about.
If you bought the books from a local bookstore…would you not pay tax?
If you dont like the high sales tax in your state…move.
Yeah, we could move, or we could rise up as a people and demand from our leaders this new decision be overturned. You know, democracy.