Texas, Amazon Agree On Sales Taxes

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Texas and Amazon have agreed on what they feel is a "win - win situation" (for them). People that actually live in Texas and shop on Amazon might not have that "winning" feeling. :( Thanks to sKiDmArK for the link.

According to the agreement between the Comptroller of Public Accounts and Amazon, the Company plans over the next four years to create at least 2,500 jobs and make at least $200 million in capital investments in the state and will begin to collect and remit Texas sales tax on July 1, 2012. The agreement resolves all sales tax issues between Texas and Amazon.
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I won't be using Amazon anymore as a result of this agreement. One reason I liked buying through them is that I didn't have to pay sales tax if I bought games or stuff from them, and this just ruins it. I might as well go to Gamestop or Best Buy and give them my money.
 
What??? Nooo! Sucks that my amazon prime just renewed too... Oh well at least I have the student deal $50/year.... I guess back to newegg it is! :(
 
Boo ho you have to pay sales tax now. I am located in washington state and have always paid sales tax on amazon purchases. Still cheaper than buying things in stores and free 2 day shipping with my free student prime account.
 
BrooksyX said:
Boo ho you have to pay sales tax now. I am located in washington state and have always paid sales tax on amazon purchases. Still cheaper than buying things in stores and free 2 day shipping with my free student prime account.
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isn't Washington state's sales tax like 6%?
 
Well crap there goes 8.25% of my reasons for buying from Amazon.

unless the price is just too good to beat AND worth waiting up to 1.5 weeks for it to get here... I'll just drive down to the store and get it.
 
My God, people, taxes pay for stuff you use every day, like the roads you drive on. Yeah, a ton of it is wasted on BS, but be reasonable.

Living on St Thomas, USVI would teach how what unfair prices are -- except on alcohol and cigarettes. Those are always cheap there. Everything else is a wallet rape and you can't get stuff shipped or it's ridiculously expensive to get it shipped down to the island.
 
sonsonate said:
My God, people, taxes pay for stuff you use every day, like the roads you drive on. Yeah, a ton of it is wasted on BS, but be reasonable.
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Are you serious with this?

Also, the only reason I buy from Amazon is because I don't have to pay California sales tax. If this happens here as well, then back to saving almost 10% somewhere else...
 
On the bright side, 2,500 jobs isn't bad. Better than the 10 or so for the data centers being opened in Oregon.
 
"I'd rather drive down the a B&M store, put wear and tear on my vehicle and pay for gas"


You people are morons.
 
sonsonate said:
My God, people, taxes pay for stuff you use every day, like the roads you drive on. Yeah, a ton of it is wasted on BS, but be reasonable.

Living on St Thomas, USVI would teach how what unfair prices are -- except on alcohol and cigarettes. Those are always cheap there. Everything else is a wallet rape and you can't get stuff shipped or it's ridiculously expensive to get it shipped down to the island.
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My county in Illinois has the second highest sales tax in the country, not to property taxes and gas prices. We're being gouged on everything; of course I'm going to look online to save whatever dollars I can. Yes, this hurts B&M stores but they should be angry at the state, not the individual consumers.
 
Does this mean even more Texans will make the trek to the great state of Oklahoma?

I swear the minute a stop light gets hung horizontally. . .
 
Amazon recently agreed to anally rape their customers in TN as well (where I live). They will start taxing us in 2014. 9.25% sales tax hurts.
 
Fuck the US GOV. They need to stop wasting $ on stupid shit like going to war for other countries' problems, which makes them money hungry and taxing everything.
 
JL6speed said:
Fuck the US GOV. They need to stop wasting $ on stupid shit like going to war for other countries' problems, which makes them money hungry and taxing everything.
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Uhhh...this is more of a state issue rather than a federal one.
 
Here in MA we are gonna be getting hosed as well. Amazon is building some stupid shit here in our tax greedy state.

I guess all the welfare people can breath a little easier now that there is gonna be more taxes collected.
 
9.8% in other states. It's a fine system. Those states with income taxes can go stuff it. If I buy crap, I pay taxes, if I don't well, then I don't pay taxes- damn awesome system to me. Soooo glad we overturn the retards that want income taxes everytime they actually get on the ballot.
 
JL6speed said:
Fuck the US GOV. They need to stop wasting $ on stupid shit like going to war for other countries' problems, which makes them money hungry and taxing everything.
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I will agree to this only after they completely kill medicare, social security, welfare and introduce a fast china like policy for killing people when they break the law for stealing, violent crime and the like. If fear doesn't keep the dumbasses in line, at least they will be removed from the population,
 
Medicare and Medicaid are loathed by doctors. Wanna know why? They never pay on time, we are talking 6months+ without payment. You don't work for free right? Why should doctors?

On topic, its sales tax. Be upset how the government spends your money, not with Amazon. All the new taxes are coming as a result of government not spending correctly and not knowing how to operate on a budget. Thats what you get with a bunch of poly sci majors and lawyers.
 
Yeah, fuck the opportunity to raise funds to improve our failing public schools and infrastructure! Avoiding taxes is the american way! /sarcasm

I guess i'm in the minority in thinking that some sort of internet sales tax is a good idea, as long as the funds can be used wisely (i.e. the aforementioned infrastructure and schools). Clean up the tax code and "trim the fat" of wasteful government spending and the amount taxed wouldn't have to be high. In fact, just explicitly state that the 'net tax would be earmarked specifically for such projects. All those products are shipped across the country on public roads, why shouldn't a tax be paid to maintain those public resources?

Would all the naysayers be more inclined to accept/pay such a tax if it was stated as "all funds raised by the Amazon sales tax would go towards the improvement of our public school system"? How low would it have to be, 1-2%?
 
Sad day but you knew it was coming. When they do the same thing in CA, the number of purchases will likely decrease.
 
Buyers said:
Yeah, fuck the opportunity to raise funds to improve our failing public schools and infrastructure! Avoiding taxes is the american way! /sarcasm

I guess i'm in the minority in thinking that some sort of internet sales tax is a good idea, as long as the funds can be used wisely (i.e. the aforementioned infrastructure and schools). Clean up the tax code and "trim the fat" of wasteful government spending and the amount taxed wouldn't have to be high. In fact, just explicitly state that the 'net tax would be earmarked specifically for such projects. All those products are shipped across the country on public roads, why shouldn't a tax be paid to maintain those public resources?

Would all the naysayers be more inclined to accept/pay such a tax if it was stated as "all funds raised by the Amazon sales tax would go towards the improvement of our public school system"? How low would it have to be, 1-2%?
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Yes, because we don't pay enough taxes and the government obviously knows how to spend my money better than me. How about they fix the current tax clusterfuck before initiating new taxes. /sarcasm :rolleyes:
 
techie81 said:
Yes, because we don't pay enough taxes and the government obviously knows how to spend my money better than me. How about they fix the current tax clusterfuck before initiating new taxes. /sarcasm :rolleyes:
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Probably a waste of time (which is why I didn't bother to type the same thing), but this ^
 
I'd love if people would just accept a flat tax of 25%ish. I don't care if your poor, or bloody rich, NO ONE should be allowed to take 40+ percent of your income.

We will never have a tax system that is easy again. It will continue to get more complex every year until the USA as a nation dies. I say that in a context that all nations/countries/civilizations eventually die off. I don't want the USA to die though. :)
 
BrooksyX said:
Still cheaper than buying things in stores and free 2 day shipping with my free student prime account.
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How on earth is cheaper when people will price match Amazon? In that situation, you would be better off picking it up locally (if one is able) and not having to wait.


Melon said:
"I'd rather drive down the a B&M store, put wear and tear on my vehicle and pay for gas"


You people are morons.
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LOL at wear and tear and gas involved on driving a few blocks to a local retailer. Not to mention retailers being on the way to or from another destination. You might want to think about what you type before you start pointing fingers and name calling.

Amazon only had a foothold against local retailers because of their lower prices and not charging sales tax in some states so people didn't mind waiting for an item to be shipped if the shipping was free. When the sales tax is removed from the equation, there's no point in not purchasing it locally as people will price match Amazon, you don't have to wait, and you can return it locally without having to wait on shipping to and from.

Why am I suddenly reminded of another thread where people were talking about how a majority of the population doesn't apply critical thinking?
 
Ihaveworms said:
Uhhh...this is more of a state issue rather than a federal one.
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This issue spans all the states. The entire US has been trying to get all the states to tax online purchases. If it is a state issue, then it would have only been Texas.
 
sonsonate said:
My God, people, taxes pay for stuff you use every day, like the roads you drive on. Yeah, a ton of it is wasted on BS, but be reasonable.
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Sales tax is a tax on nothing... It is theft. Do you even know which taxes pay for roads?
 
Buyers said:
I guess i'm in the minority in thinking that some sort of internet sales tax is a good idea, as long as the funds can be used wisely (i.e. the aforementioned infrastructure and schools).
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You're not in the minority. I wouldn't mind paying more taxes if I saw more benefit. The thing is, when they don't use them properly people are not going to try and avoid paying them.
 
Racer_J said:
How on earth is cheaper when people will price match Amazon? In that situation, you would be better off picking it up locally (if one is able) and not having to wait.




LOL at wear and tear and gas involved on driving a few blocks to a local retailer. Not to mention retailers being on the way to or from another destination. You might want to think about what you type before you start pointing fingers and name calling.

Amazon only had a foothold against local retailers because of their lower prices and not charging sales tax in some states so people didn't mind waiting for an item to be shipped if the shipping was free. When the sales tax is removed from the equation, there's no point in not purchasing it locally as people will price match Amazon, you don't have to wait, and you can return it locally without having to wait on shipping to and from.

Why am I suddenly reminded of another thread where people were talking about how a majority of the population doesn't apply critical thinking?
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Because you're bitching about a paltry 7-10% sales tax.

Suck it up.:rolleyes:
 
Racer_J said:
Amazon only had a foothold against local retailers because of their lower prices and not charging sales tax in some states so people didn't mind waiting for an item to be shipped if the shipping was free. When the sales tax is removed from the equation, there's no point in not purchasing it locally as people will price match Amazon, you don't have to wait, and you can return it locally without having to wait on shipping to and from
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Perhaps there would be no point to you, but that does not mean your view holds true for everyone else. Critical thinking includes the ability to envision persons in situations that are dissimilar to your own ;)

Amazon still offers the convenience of having the item shipped to your door. There is more to purchasing than just the price and wear/tear/gas, there is also TIME. I would rather go home from work and order random items for delivery in 1-2 days (e.g., dog food, ethernet cables, etc.) than have to waste 1-2 hours of my time driving somewhere, parking, finding the item, standing in line to check out, then driving home. My time is significantly more valuable to me than a 1-2 delay on most products.

It also works well for those moments of "oh crap! I need to pick that up!" and you can purchase it in 30 seconds from your phone/desktop/etc. while still at work, at the beach, or wherever else and not have to worry about writing it down on a list and potentially forgetting it.

Also keep in mind that not everyone lives just "a few blocks" from a local retailer that will carry a competing product at a matched price.

I live in CA and enjoy not paying sales tax on Amazon purchases. However, I still purchased from Amazon in WA and will continue to do so even if CA begins charging sales tax :)
 
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