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Amazon Fights Back Against Internet Taxes
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- A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Calling the new Internet tax laws “unconstitutional tax collection schemes,” letters to Amazon associates in Hawaii (June 30), Rhode Island (June 29) and North Carolina (June 26) read much the same, telling associates there that until those states repeal the laws (or in Hawaii’s case, Gov. Linda Lingle vetoes by July 15), Amazon won’t advertise there.
“In the event [the state] repeals this tax collection scheme, we would certainly be happy to re-open our Associates program to [the state’s] residents,” the letters read.
Amazon’s Associates Program allows Web sites to place Amazon advertisements on their Web pages and then earn money from Amazon purchases made as a result. But while the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled retailers do not have to pay taxes in states where they have no physical presence, legislation by these states and New York are getting around the ruling by establishing a retailer’s presence in the state if they advertise there.
California and Assembly Bill 178 are next, and, in a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators, Paul Misener, Amazon VP for global public policy, asks that the bill be opposed, in favor of a multistate “streamlined” sales tax.
“It is unconstitutional and would not be an effective source of revenue,” Misener writes. “The approach of AB 178 is unconstitutional because it ultimately would require sellers with no physical presence in California to collect sales tax merely on the basis of contracts with California advertisers.”
Fred Nicely, with the Council on State Taxation in Washington, D.C., said states enacting online sales tax laws are shooting themselves in the foot.
“It shows how dangerous this legislation is,” he said of Amazon severing ties with affiliates. “What you have happening is these states are going to not only lose the revenue the law was intended to get, but also the income tax revenues that these Amazon affiliates generated.”
Nicely said he believes these new state laws are unconstitutional, and that if California follows suit “it will have a huge impact.”
“Legislation needs to be worked out at the federal level,” he added. “That’s the appropriate tactic.”
That’s what Scott Peterson, executive director of the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board in Nashville, Tenn., is trying to do. His group is attempting to streamline online tax rules across the country, signing up states and retailers in an effort to simplify tax codes. Wisconsin is set to become the latest state to join the group July 1, Peterson said.
“[Amazon is] certainly within its right to conduct its business the way it sees fit,” he said
Peterson said he didn’t blame North Carolina, Hawaii and Rhode Island for trying to close budget shortfalls. “But the way the states are going about it doesn’t address the problem, which is the complexity of state sales tax laws,” he said. He estimated that California alone is missing out on roughly $2 billion in revenue from online sales tax. California is currently facing a budget gap of more than $24 billion.
Other estimates have the potential for online sales tax revenue nationwide at more than $3 billion.
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July 4th, 2009 at 11:53 am
First, taxation is intrusion into private transactions. Intrusion is illegal so all taxes are illegal. Second, vendors are not tax collectors; they should not collect taxes, which are criminal to begin with. Third, pack a gun and pay no tax.
Armed*Serenity}-;='--- Reply:
July 4th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Actually, many taxes are legal. Corporate taxes are legal under the constitution, and many of the state taxes as well.
Tax on or income on the otherhand is unconstitutional and therefore illegal, thats why you should not pay it, if you are your financing your own slavery.
Ben Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 7:06 am
I know some taxes are considered legal, but this view stems only from the lack of verification. Privacy is an unalienable right. Any transaction, through written contract or just spoken words, is a private contract between the seller and the buyer; the privacy of the agreement is sacred, no one, especially government officials, has the right to meddle in. Worsening the crime of intrusion, the taxation also raises the price of the exchanged good or service. This inflationary deed has four evils. First, it curtails the vendor’s right to establish the cost of his offering himself. Second, it makes the good or service less affordable for the buyer. Third, it allows state intrusion into private dealings, and state control upon them. After this precedent, sneaky state employees start spying upon everything and bullying everyone under the guise of so-called legal taxation. Fourth, it adds chores and complications to commerce, undermining the joy of free enterprise and the delightful exercise of free will.
The Bill of Rights is excellent but the US constitution is flawed in that it allows intrusive taxes. Say you have 100,000,000 workers; simply divide the government budget by 100,000,000 and make each contributor pay that same share.
Pack a gun and pay no tax.
Homeless bum Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Hey, you dont have to pay taxes if you don’t have an income.
Hey, can you spare a dime so I can get some booze?
freeyourmind Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
The internet is an entirely different world that doesn’t hold the laws and codes the realm outside of it does. The internet is just a bunch of fancing coding over a series of computers. And now the gov’t is going to tax what happens on the internet? Come on now. This is just another case of the gov’t “wanting their cut”. These are not face to face transaction where currency is exchanged.
Josh Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
———-
so how does one get out of paying income taxes, I mean without some weird self-employment scheme and working under the table? I’ve heard stories but never really anything that I think would help me without having to quit my job.
anyone?
———-
Alexis Reply:
July 6th, 2009 at 7:52 am
Homeless Bum,
It appears we were renting out that sidewalk for you to conduct business on. We will now ask of you to keep accurate records of each coin you recieve, and do ask you give us 10 cents per dollar. This is america, help keep the dream alive.
Tim Reply:
July 11th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
9/11 Cover Is Blown – British and Saudi Intelligence are Culprits
It gets better – Bush helped coverup
Intelligence Report here:
http://www.larouchepac.com/node/10997
Larry McElhinney Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Taxation should be ABOLISHED the same way Slavery was abolished.
Both ideas are 100% incompatible with Freedom.
EnglishPatriot Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Ben, It’s inalienable, not “unalienable”.
Gah.
Alexis Reply:
July 6th, 2009 at 7:53 am
EnglishPatriot,
You can’t quote right.
Gah.
READ BETWEEN THE LINES!!! Reply:
July 6th, 2009 at 1:08 am
Read between the lines!
PROBLEM: Amazon is just doing this to bring it to the forefront of the media, causing it to become a national issue.
REACTION: People get curious about outcome, states split in whether to tax or not, corporations throw a fuss – making it look like this is beneficial for the people – cause we need to pay our impossible national debt some how.
SOLUTION: Puppet politicians are told to follow the most profitable way by the corporatists, and federal national legislation is passed which forces each state to charge a tax according to a new standard rating system.
You heard them say it yourself: “Legislation needs to be worked out at the federal level,” he added. “That’s the appropriate tactic.”
Avoid strength, attack weakness.
- Sun Tzu
July 4th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Don’t pay taxes!
George [Costanza] Reply:
July 4th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Don’t pay unlawful taxes!
July 4th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
If you refuse to pay taxes the government throws you in jail/prison and forces others to pay taxes for your upkeep in jail/prison.
brandon Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
If you are able…get “under the table” work that pays cash, and do not declare it. You earned it and it is yours
David Stratton Reply:
July 6th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Only if you legally OWE taxes would the government do this. For you to legally owe taxes, you would either have to engage in a trade or business (both of which are narrowly defined, custom legal terms as per United States Code and other enacted legislation) or claim that you engaged in a trade or business by claiming to be an employee (another custom defined legal term).
And it’s much more likely that the IRS will attempt to scare you into paying your taxes by threatening you with $5000 “firvolous filing penalties”, all of which are conveniently not signed, which makes them legal nullities that will be thrown out in court.
You are either a shill for the IRS folks or just miserably un/misinformed about taxation. In either case, I suggest you check out Peter Eric Hendrickson’s book, “Cracking the Code: The Fascinating Truth about Taxation in America” as it will alert you to the truth if you are the latter, or alert you of your peril if you are the former.
July 4th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
The sixteenth amendment was never radified.
freeyourmind Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
yes it was. But just like the Federal Reserve, the 16th Amendment should disappear.
radified radical Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
lol, radified.
that sounds rad
David Stratton Reply:
July 6th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Actually, the 16th amendment WAS ratified, but the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that “the 16th amendment did not confer on Congress the right to levy any new taxes.” As such, any tax that was not permissible as per the Constitution prior to the 16th amendment is still not permissible. Any tax that WAS permissible prior to the 16th is still permissible today. The income tax, as it is currently written and enacted, is totally legal, even without the 16th amendment (the 16th amendment is basically a tautological sentence that has no real meaning to it once you deconstruct it). It is how that tax is ENFORCED that is illegal and morally bankrupt.
Thus, if you understand what the Internal Revenue Code actually SAYS (and that’s a Herculean effort with the IRC weighing in at some 3.5 million words or so, and the regulations pertaining to it measuring another 3million) you can happily work for pay and never give a penny to the IRS. And no, you don’t end up behind bars or trying to mask your identity. That’s what idiots or cowards do. A real man will educate himself properly, and then stand up for the truth, which forces evil to back down. If God is for us, who can stand against us?
July 4th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
###OBAMA IS A TALIBAN/TERRORIST###
http://www.prisonplanet.com/al.....ent-417937
July 4th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
#####PETITION OF THE CITIZENS OF EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES AGAINST LISBON TREATY RATIFICATION#####
Sign:
http://www.petice.eu/?lang=EN
Say “no” to a one world (criminal) government!!
**INFO**
- – -a member state is unable to ban a particular chemical on its own, not even if it believes it causes cancer. Only the non-elected Commission can propose a change in the relevant EU legislation. Not a National Parliament … not the European Parliament …Not the voters.
Environmentalists want to forbid 267 chemicals. The Commission will only investigate 7 of them. The 260 unwanted chemicals cannot be banned by voters in any member state by means of any election.- – -
READ ALL:
wiseupjournal.com/?p=943
&
EU ACTIVITIES, LIST:
wiseupjournal.com/?cat=24
VIDEO:
“End of Nations – EU Takeover & the Lisbon Treaty”
video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4291770489472554607
(wiseupjournal.com/?p=173)
July 4th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
“U.N. to Emerge as Global IRS”
http://www.wiseupjournal.com/?p=980
(aim.org/aim-column/u.n.-to-emerge-as-global-irs)
July 4th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Way to go Amazon..
http://www.truthnews.tv
July 4th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Hey, California! Yeah, I know things are tough. Unemployment is at depression-era levels. Everyone is losing their homes. The government is stealing everything you have.
But you have a movie star for a governor, so it’s all good, right?
Ha!
July 5th, 2009 at 6:55 am
I’m glad to see Amazon take a stand….perhaps it’ll give incentive for others to do the same. Amazon needs to get behind Ron Paul and start distributing his materials with every sale,
July 5th, 2009 at 11:30 am
I think Amazon and other big businesses just don’t understand the leftist mentality. They think they can work with anyone, that it’s all about money in the end. What they don’t realize is that most of the hard core left simply hates free enterprise. They really don’t care if the taxes take in more or less revenue, in their small little minds, they are “punishing” those evil businesses, and that’s all that matters.
Marxism is about 2 things: Envy and resentment of other people’s success.
Ken
http://www.LaserGuidedLoogie.com
coppo Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
spoken like a true ignoramus.
this is not about marxism but about government looting the people.
believe me, i live in rhode island, and i know.
marxism is NOT about envy and resentment of others’ success. it’s about resentment at people achieving their success on the broken backs of those whose labour made that success possible. it goes too far in trying to redress the wrongs, true, but that doesn’t change the fact that big business has always regarded its workers as more expendable than the machines the workers operate.
brandon Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
So what if “big business”, or “small business” for that matter treats it’s workers like crap. No one HAS to work for anyone here in America…yet. if you do not care for your employer, than leave find work elsewhere, or start your own business.
radified radical Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
We haven’t had free enterprise since 1913.
Jonny Velocity Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Brandon, if every business treats you like crap where else is there to go?
July 5th, 2009 at 11:58 am
These states are really trying a cash grab here. The “Affiliates” mentioned are just commission based advertisers. Where does a state get the right to collect sales tax from an Ad Agency? So now if a business hires an ad agency in New York to conduct a national ad campaign, New York gets to collect sales tax on ALL of that businesses sales? Is this how the “system” works? If an affiliate in California advertises thumbtacks for a hardware store in Vermont and makes a sale to someone in Virginia, what right does California have to ANY sales tax. This is so FUBAR I can’t believe it. But I have every expectation that the courts will side with the states. So ALL the income from the affiliate advertising industry will dissappear, along with all of the income tax revenue. Sure, go ahead and cut your own throats, greedy fricking state governments!
July 5th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
I think it’s time for people to fight back and start ignoring and refusing to do business with California. California does what the Fed wants to do and forces every other state to go along with it because businesses don’t want to lose the massive Californian market.
July 5th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
I wonder when the U.S. will divide. How long will it take for states to say that they have had enough meddling in their business. The state level is where we the people need to start working on. we can force change on the state level as opposed to the big dogs in washington. federal laws can be nullified at the state level.
July 5th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
*ATTENTION*: People, the swine flu is going to kill all of us if we dont get that vaccine shot! Please, let your fellow americans know that we are all doomed if we dont except the governments new vaccines! What a crock of shit that is !
http://www.dlc3marketing.com/swinefluhoax
me Reply:
July 6th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
hilbilly patriot,
You’re WACK. Stop spamming. Everybody here knows that shit.
July 5th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”
Aussie Reply:
July 6th, 2009 at 1:53 am
If dead Iraqi’s could speak, i’d have to say they’d disagree with ya’
If dead Afghans could speak, i’d have to say they’d disagree with ya’
If the dead of the modern era could speak, i’d have to say they’d disagree with ya’
If the dead back through the ages could speak, i’d have to say they’d disagree with ya’
.
An all loving God???…you’d have to be off your rocker to believe that bullshit!!!
Performer of Miracles???…the fucker can’t even heal an amputee…miracles my arse!!!
.
A figment is what it is…a figment of your brainwashed, deluded mind…nothing more!!!
July 6th, 2009 at 1:06 am
Leave Amazon be…in fact, how about ya’ stop giving the Globalist “FILTH” a hard time!
There’s been 50,000 articles on Infowars since 2001!
And yet…nothings been done…not a damn thing…it’s a tragedy beyond comprehension!
So just go back to watching TV…or playing your brain deadening games…or to sleep…whatever!
.
There comes a point where the ridiculous is reached…humanity has long since passed it!!!!!!
July 7th, 2009 at 3:27 am
They have nothing but a bunch of greedy pigs running Hawaii, why the hell would we want to pay an internet tax when we already pay a premium on shipping?
It’s time we all told the New World Order to go straight to hell, we’ll just drop off the grid and quit using their fiat currency, people who are used to living with little means have less to lose than those who don’t, I can send a message to boycott their stinking system, can you?.
July 7th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Go, Amazon! I love this shopping site!
July 9th, 2009 at 5:00 am
wish
July 9th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Amazon are a good crowd. They have also refused to sign-up for BT’s PHORM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tech.....dvertising
July 9th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
if everyone was to spread the word on striking because of tax and most people agreed on this, than tax will no longer be in place. This may cause other problems as well but isn’t it worth your freedom?
July 10th, 2009 at 10:12 am
wishes
July 11th, 2009 at 3:39 am
http://leavingalexjonestown.blogspot.com/