New York Passes Online Sales Tax Law
by Rebecca Button on May 14th, 2008
To follow up with my previous post Internet Sales Tax Looms for NY…Will It Catch On? I posed a question along the lines of "do you think it should happen/is it a good idea?"
As of June 1, 2008, the legislation will go into effect, requiring internet retailers to collect a sales tax on any orders being shipped to the state’s residents. This legislation was largely enacted to keep online retail Goliaths (namely Amazon.com) in check and attempt to "level the playing field" for brick and mortar stores in the state.
Amazon has now responded by suing the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance claiming "that since it does not have a physical presence in the state that it should not be required to collect taxes on shipments going to New York." In addition Amazon says the New York law is unconstitutional based on a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that claims states are prohibited from requiring out of state retailers to collect sales tax unless the company has a physical presence in the state. New York defends the law by arguing that the Amazon Associates program, which allows Web site publishers to receive commissions by promoting Amazon items through their sites make Amazon liable to collect taxes on its behalf for those affiliates who live in New York. (this paragraph courtesy WebProNews.com )
So while the question is no longer "do you think it should happen/is it a good idea?" I now pose these questions to you all: How long before other states enact identical or similar legislation and how do you think it will affect online consumerism?
[...] New York Passes Online Sales Tax Law- In addition Amazon says the New York law is unconstitutional based on a 1992 US Supreme Court ruling that claims states are prohibited from requiring out of state retailers to collect sales tax unless the company has a physical presence … [...]
New York Wants To Charge Affiliates Sales Tax | Get 'em Amazon! | FredHopkins.com
May 15th, 2008
at 12:36 am