Amazon Pulling Out of Texas Over Sales Tax

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In reality, everything you buy... even if you are out of state on vacation you are suppose to declare to your state and pay sales tax on.

I lived in Montana for the first 20 years of my life... No sales tax. So Now living in AZ and sales tax.

In reality Sales tax should be declared un-constitutional. I bought a vehicle in another state and had to pay sales tax to AZ!!!!!

That is just wrong... I can see the state charging for sales tax for items you buy in the state, but anything you buy anywhere? Even if I buy it in state with no sales tax?

Not right.
 
jnmunsey said:
You're presuming the government's "job" actually requires a lot of money... The federal and most state budgets could easily operate at half their current levels if not even less.
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And that statement is based on what? Wishful thinking?
 
It's amazing we have some people on this thread defending taxes. Taxes are evil and states find new ways of taxing along with raising taxes everyday.

Don't dare come in here and defending taxation. You will find no love here.

And before you give me lip about how taxes go to fund the police dept, state offices etc etc. BS, it's already been reported on that states could STILL pay their fire and police depts and other state agencies on the tax levels they collected 20 years ago. Every single state. Some states 3 or 4 times over.

Tax woes can be blamed on mismanagement, corruption, to name just a few.

Job well done Amazon.
 
State governments still haven't figured it out after 15 years. Two possible solutions exist, charge a flat "eCommerce tax rate" for all 50 states, or no tax at all. Any other solution may not work.
 
Here in Tennessee, Amazon is wanting to build some distribution centers. But they will only do it if the TN government gives them an exemption from collecting sales taxes from TN residents.

We have had full page ads in the local newspapers from local merchants trying to fight Amazon on this.

Personally, I am torn. I don't want to pay sales taxes to Amazon (sales tax in Nashville is a pretty high 9.25%) and the state could always use more jobs. But should Amazon get an unfair advantage over all the other companies that sell the exact same merchandise in TN?
 
snowcat said:
Here in Tennessee, Amazon is wanting to build some distribution centers. But they will only do it if the TN government gives them an exemption from collecting sales taxes from TN residents.

We have had full page ads in the local newspapers from local merchants trying to fight Amazon on this.

Personally, I am torn. I don't want to pay sales taxes to Amazon (sales tax in Nashville is a pretty high 9.25%) and the state could always use more jobs. But should Amazon get an unfair advantage over all the other companies that sell the exact same merchandise in TN?
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Sweet, I hope they do get that. I stopped buying from Newegg years ago because of a combination of sneaky shipping charges and paying 9.75% sales tax (Jackson). I buy everything from Amazon and almost never buy anything if it isn't Amazon Prime. Now, if only the Amazon sort engine was as powerful as Newegg's. I end up using Newegg to find exactly what I want and search for the part number on Amazon.
 
robble said:
So now instead of losing out on the taxes it would have collected from Amazon, Texas loses out on the taxes AND hundreds of jobs.
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This...I thought government officials would have learned by now.
 
Amazon has the infrastructure to collect these taxes, and they're hiding behind the ' affiliate' front to avoid it. Add in texas crazy budget issues that were offset by the feds last year but now loom large and you have a recipe for grand douchebaggery from both parties on an epic scale.

Tax burdens are the lowest they've been in decades. Federal revenue is at low levels not seen since the 1950s. But hey, cut my taxes some more, I'm sure that will fix it!
 
DeadSkull said:
This...I thought government officials would have learned by now.
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LOL. Never!

But worse than the officials are the idiots who want all these government services but don't want to pay for them.

TANSTAAFL, people.
 
I guess future sales were not enough to justify the hundreds of millions demanded in unpaid taxes.

Funny thing is, I'm sure Amazon knows that either the people will complain, or find out a way around the issue.
 
Baditude said:
One thing I forgot to mention is most of the intersections in the city all recieved crosswalk countdown signs as well. So when your approaching an intersection you see the crosswalk sign counting down to zero. Most of the lights change to yellow about 1 to 2 seconds after the countdown ends then red seconds later. Beleave me the majority of people start slowing down when they see their not going to make it though in time but, alot of dumbasses step on the gas. I did not vote for the cameras the first time around but against them. Once they were installed the city starting counting on that money. You can't just take away the cash cow. Now times are tough after they shut down the cameras and city workers are having to take unpaid days off. No I don't work for the city.
Years ago we didn't have the problems with people running red lights. Oh yhea people didn't drive 50 in a 35 speed limit on the streets like they do now.

BTW the fucking cameras don't cause the accidents, it's the dumbasses driving the cars that have no fucking respect for anyone but themselves. Personally I think they should reinstate them and also make to take a Defensive driving class and not at some fucking comedy club. If you screw up you need to pay the price. Get over it.

Years ago I was involved in a car wreak where this illegal Mexican bitch ran thru a stop sign and totaled my car. NO she didn't have insurance and fled she fled the country. Do you think we should remove all stop signs and red lights? Hell no if I had my way there would be a camera on every stop sign and intersection. After the 3 offences in 5 years you would lose your right to drive. If caught driving illegally maybe you should be shot on sight. Bet you would run that fucker then.


And yes I'm aware that more accidents sometimes happen at these intersections.
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dude your pathetic. lights dont cause accidents??? they sure do dude. hmmmm
if there were no red light camera you would just go through the light and be on your way. if there was one then you would slam on your brakes to save 124 and cause thousands of dollars of damage, including hospital and workers down time.
 
Lets not get into government corruption and over spending there are probably some states that are not over spending and really do need the money even if most could cut some of the fat. The ability for online retailers to get around sales tax is overall bad for this country. I think online and interstate commerce is good in that it opens up choice and it results in more competition as well as decreased prices. There are just some products such as high end audio and many other things that are too niche to be carried locally. But what we are seeing now days and I am guilty of it, is that people purposely buy stuff that is out of state just to avoid sales tax. This is stupid, it causes us to ship some items further for no other reason, it makes us use more gas for no other reason and it hinders very large companies from growing into the most efficient company they can be. Maybe newegg would have already opened up distribution centers in 3 - 5 more states if it had not been for the sales tax issue. Gone are the days when people try to position their business in the most efficient location as possible to get things to customers quickly now they make most of their decisions based on government subsidies and taxes. Now days in most areas best buy no longer has any competition and if it were not for sales tax maybe newegg or someone would have started opening stores in markets this would be good for all of us. Tell me it would not be awesome if you could go into a newegg retail location.

Yet it seems on this forum very few people have the forsight to think about the consequence of their purely selfish motivations to support any fight against paying sales tax. Sooner or later this is going to effect everyone so deeply that online retailers are going to have to pay one way or another. Right now they have a loophole made possible by the amazing efficiency of UPS/Fedex and reasonably low gas prices. States will need to either force sales tax, or come up with some other creative tax such as taxing the shipping of items. If they do not do this and people continue.

All I am saying is that businesses should operate on a fair open market where every business is subject to the same rules. If you start doing rediculous shit like giving amazon a sales tax exemption it only serves to help the most powerful companies and subdue innovation. If you do not somehow tax those things eventually as even my grandma starts buying online people will purchase so much online and out of state that some taxes will have to go up. Sooner or later you pay no matter what and if you fight against something fair out of selfish desire for a loophole then you will have to pay somewhere else they might raise you income tax or start taxing all package shipment by weight.
 
snowcat said:
H

Personally, I am torn. I don't want to pay sales taxes to Amazon (sales tax in Nashville is a pretty high 9.25%) and the state could always use more jobs. But should Amazon get an unfair advantage over all the other companies that sell the exact same merchandise in TN?
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are you serious. government can produce more jobs THEY CANT. only the private sector can.
 
jnmunsey said:
You're presuming the government's "job" actually requires a lot of money... The federal and most state budgets could easily operate at half their current levels if not even less.
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And you are presuming that the way to control government spending is to create loopholes rather than directly address the issue?
 
canmanone said:
are you serious. government can produce more jobs THEY CANT. only the private sector can.
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He is talking about Amazon putting in a fulfillment center in the state if they get the exemption they want from the state, not the state itself creating jobs.

And yes, a government can create jobs. They do it all the time, and you pay for it. Every new policeman, city worker, fireman, etc., is a new job created by the government. Whether we need some of them, and whether they cost us more than they are worth, is another matter though.
 
TechPirate said:
Wow, did any of you guys read what this is about?

If you have a physical presence in a state, you must collect sales tax owed to that state. That's why you have to pay sales tax in California, New Jersey, or Tennessee if you purchase from Newegg.

Amazon has a physical presence in Texas and refuses to collect taxes from customers it owes to the states. Other retailers in Texas must do the same or they face the same penalty.

Amazon is being a baby.
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Doesn't matter what Amazon is acting like - TX just caused however many people were employed in that facility to become unemployed.
 
EngrChris said:
State governments still haven't figured it out after 15 years. Two possible solutions exist, charge a flat "eCommerce tax rate" for all 50 states, or no tax at all. Any other solution may not work.
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The problem for this is how the hell would they enforce it? I buy something from Amazon and it is in another state - how would my state know I bought something and then how would they go about taxing me?
 
PeaKr said:
Here's a great idea. Why don't states stop pissing off money like it falls freely from the sky. Then they don't have to come up with more taxes, hand out photo radar tickets, or tax us driving on roads or visiting parks that belong to us in the first fucking place. This shit is only going to get worse unless YOU as a voter do something about it. Anti incumbent all the way.
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I know I'll be in the minority on this one... but you purchase taxable goods in a state why don't you man up and fucking pay the taxes. You can argue until you're blue in the face about "pissing off money" ... that is until said money actually is useful to you, like education for your kids, or roads to drive on.
 
PSA # 42

This is the goose that laid the Golden Egg.

This is the goose that laid the Golden Egg after the introduction of Sales Taxes.

Any questions?
 
weuntouchable said:
and life necessities like groceries are tax free.
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speak for your own state. While Hawaii General Excise Tax (sales tax by another name) is "only 4.7%" EVERYTHING gets taxed. FOOD and medicine included. WTF taxing prescription meds?!? This is on top of our 13% state income tax.
 
fausto412 said:
that is a question right wingers can't understand. they think tax cuts don't need to be offset and that all taxes are too high. guess texas can raise property taxes more.
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And I guess you don't understand that BILLIONS are wasted on non essential services every month but Local, State and Federal governments.

Go ahead and read this and let me know if you think you should be helping to support every one of those "pork Barrel" project
http://www.cagw.org/reports/pig-book/2010/

And this is not a republican vrs Democrat argument. Both side waste money on pet projects every day.

Our federal Budget is up 20% since 2008. Do you feel that you are getting 20% more service since 2008? Even inflation has not kept up with that level of spend.

And this is not a Federal only issue. My local government wasted 1 million on a round rock that is called "ART that site in front of park.

Our governments waste our money. When we try to stop the spend, they threaten termination of essential services, instead of cutting fat.
 
robble said:
speak for your own state. While Hawaii General Excise Tax (sales tax by another name) is "only 4.7%" EVERYTHING gets taxed. FOOD and medicine included. WTF taxing prescription meds?!? This is on top of our 13% state income tax.
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Not to self. Never move to Hawaii. They need all that even though its a huge vacation spot? Thats sad...
 
robble said:
speak for your own state. While Hawaii General Excise Tax (sales tax by another name) is "only 4.7%" EVERYTHING gets taxed. FOOD and medicine included. WTF taxing prescription meds?!? This is on top of our 13% state income tax.
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damn dude you have state income tax. i will not be living in a state that has that. will be leaving if wa state decides to implement that. so far the voters have voted it down which im glad they did.
 
How else did Texas expect Amazon to react where their choices were to pay hundreds of millions in taxes or fire a few hundred people? Its not really a tough decision.
 
This is a slap in the face to Texans, the common everyday people. People aren't stupid. No one trusts politicians. People know that most of the taxes are bullshit and wasteful, corrupt. People are asked to give more and more and more. God only knows where your tax money really goes.

Texas = Mubarak

Amazon = Egyptian People
 
Godmachine said:
Or Amazon is trying not to force Texas residents to pay sales tax , which can make quite a difference and in a bid to keep Texas residents happy have decided to pull out of the state entirely thus keeping it sales tax free for customers.

Texas government on the other hand looks like a greedy asshole that is willing to risk hundreds of jobs and a local economy for where its warehouse is built.

Texas is being a giant asshole.
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Technically speaking, if you are a state resident and purchase from out of state, you must report the transaction and pay sales tax to your state. It's just until recently it's been on the customer to be honest. No one is honest anymore. It's actually quite funny as everyone on the internet acts like some morally superior jerk wad, but when it comes to paying taxes, they will find anyway to cheat, lie, or get out of it. All of which are illegal.
 
NKDietrich said:
Texas was asking for an amount of money that they essentially pulled out of their ass. No business that deserves to exist would give in to that kind of extortion.
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Aside from stores like Fry's, Newegg, Buy.com, Microcenter, Dell, HP, Walmart, Costco, Dick's Sporting Goods, Radio Shack, Office Depot, Barnes and Noble, Bed Bath And Beyond, Safeway, Albertsons, Kroger, Target, Lowes, Home Depot and, well, virtually every other retail/web store in the country, no business that deserves to exist would do it :rolleyes:
 
robble said:
So now instead of losing out on the taxes it would have collected from Amazon, Texas loses out on the taxes AND hundreds of jobs.
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Dude, this isn't a new law. These laws have been on the books for decades (probably longer than you've been alive). This isn't even a close call. Amazon was in the wrong and should pay the taxes they owe. However, if they feel that staying in the state costs them more than leaving, then they should leave the state. Clearly that's the companies decision, and I have no problem with that decision.

If the state didn't enforce the law, then NOBODY would collect sales taxes.
 
Wait a minute, I would actually research the whole state tax issue as it is defined by federal law.

This has been an ongoing issue for decades. The federal government clearly says that taxes can NOT be collected by a state if a sale takes place outside its borders.
 
Both Amazon and Texas did what was in their best interests. I don't see why either is crying over split milk.

They both did what they had to do to.
 
Thanks for the obvious there captain. No one is crying, we are debating the merits of both sides.

And, from what I gather, most feel Texas is clearly .. greedy.
 
Thanks to places like the Egg and Steam, I haven't paid a cent of tax on expensive hardware or software in a long time. As I live in NY, I have recently stopped most purchases from Amazon because they began collecting sales tax. We get taxed enough here, so I like sticking it to NY state in any way I can. Screw 'em!
 
qdemn7 said:
Sorry, as a Texan, I side with Texas on this issue, and I shop from Amazon all the time. Texans refuse to tolerate having a state income tax. Therefore much of the state budget comes from sales taxes. No sales taxes, no revenue to the state and thus no services. Since more and more purchases are online, what is supposed to happen for cities and states to generate revenue if there is no online taxation?

People hate income taxes, they hate property taxes, they want to cut taxes on businesses to bring in, or keep jobs, they do not want to pay taxes for online purchases. So then the question is, just where is the money for government to be able to do it job going to come from?
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Reduce the size of your bloated government by electing people willing to do it.
 
SixFootDuo said:
Thanks for the obvious there captain. No one is crying, we are debating the merits of both sides.

And, from what I gather, most feel Texas is clearly .. greedy.
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Yes they are ( talking about Amazon and TX). Otherwise it would have never been discussed. Amazon obviously wanted to work in Texas, and Texas obviously wanted them there. They just can't agree on revenue from taxes so they split.

Neither are being greedy. They are doing what's in their best interests. If I were an investor in Amazon, I'd be leery of them accepting 29 million dollar charges. If I'm a TX resident, I'm leery of TX letting Amazon operate without collecting taxes.


Only people that were hurt in this relationship were the workers. They will compensation for that I'm sure. I'm glad Amazon pulled out of NC. I was getting worried for a minute about having to find another online retailer to order from.
 
I doubt it had anything to do with taking a stand, it was probably a simple business decision based on the large market that Texas is and the lost revenue points of people in that mkt. shopping at other sites they don't have to pay sales tax on, especially for big-ticket items. Texas lost some jobs, but may have lost a lot more in tax revenue over the long run if they granted an exemption and Amazons competitors demanded fair treatment.
That being said, I live in a state with no tax exemptions, we pay everything. Seems like there's a damn tax on moving my cash from my wallet to my pocket. And I certainly don't agree with how most of those taxes are spent. And I live in a nation with a pseudo two-party system and a population of morons who actually believe there's a difference between them, so don't bother telling me that voting is the answer when I say that while I feel morally and legally obligated to pay all my taxes, I am ethically and mathematically bound to get out of as many as I can, any way I can. Be it lying, cheating, or shopping at internet sites that don't have a physical presence in my state.
 
canmanone said:
dude your pathetic. lights dont cause accidents??? they sure do dude. hmmmm
if there were no red light camera you would just go through the light and be on your way. if there was one then you would slam on your brakes to save 124 and cause thousands of dollars of damage, including hospital and workers down time.
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I'm guessing you're a young driver?

If these guys get hit, it's the fool behind them who is at fault for following too closely/being distracted. Sure it sucks getting brake checked but still avoidable.

It is UNACCEPTABLE and dangerous to run a red light. There is no safe way to "just go through the light" and if I had my way I'd call the cops and report the offender.
 
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