Amazon Will Do Everything It Takes To Kill California's New Sales Tax Law (AMZN)

Amazon is backing a referendum to overturn California's sales tax law, the New York Times reports. 

Here's what's going on: states -- deep in the hole these days -- want e-tailers, and in particular Amazon, to collect sales tax on their affiliates. Amazon and others say, correctly, that they don't have to if they don't have a presence in the state. This debate has been going on for a while but has new urgency given the budgetary troubles of most states.

Affiliate marketing is one of the big ways Amazon generates incremental sales, so it's a big deal for them.

Recently California demanded the sales tax from Amazon. In response, Amazon shut off its affiliates. California then said, in essence, too bad, you still owe us all the sales tax from before you shut them off. And then Amazon gave them the one-finger salute.

So here we are.

Now Amazon is fighting back with the tools it has, a referendum to change the law in California.

A couple things are worth noting here.

• Amazon is in the right here. The law and constitutional jurisprudence say it doesn't have to collect sales tax in states where it doesn't have nexus.

• Amazon supports a federal-level solution which is backed by 40 states called the Streamlined Sales Tax Initiative.

• Efforts to make Amazon pay tax are backed by huge bricks-and-mortar competitors like Wal-Mart, so it's not like the big bad corporations are all on one side.

• And finally, anyone who messes with Jeff Bezos is in for a big fight.

JEFF BEZOS: Here's Why He Won →

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See Also:

• Amazon's Android Appstore Is A "Disaster," Says A Developer
• Wal-Mart Is Backing A Group Trying To Force Amazon To Pay More Taxes
• Here's Why Amazon's New Pet Store Isn't Insane

Amazon Will Do Everything It Takes To Kill California's New Sales Tax Law (AMZN)

Backlink: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider/~3/OYAg5LWpQ2w/amazon-referendum-california-sales-tax-law-2011-7

Would an Email Tax Fix the UK Economy?

British union boss Bob Crow says that putting a tax on every email that gets sent would give a significant boost to the country’s troubled economy. But would anyone really pay a tax on messages — and would it even help if you did?

Would an Email Tax Fix the UK Economy?

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/2011/03/01/would-an-email-tax-fix-the-uk-economy/

Income Tax Quashed, Ballmer To Cash In Billions

theodp writes "Washington's proposed state income tax not only prompted Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to spend $425,000 of his own money to help crush the measure at the polls, it also inspired Microsoft to launch a FUD campaign aimed at torpedoing the initiative. 'As an employer, we're concerned that I-1098 will make it harder to attract talent and create additional jobs in Washington state,' explained Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith. 'We strongly support public education, but we're concerned by key details in I-1098. This initiative would give Washington one of the top five highest state income tax rates in the country. I-1098 would apply this tax rate to all income, including capital gains and dividends, and would not permit any deductions for charitable contributions.' Nice to see a company take a principled stand, backed by a CEO who's not afraid to put his money where his company's mouth is, right? Well, maybe not. Just three days after the measure went down in flames, Ballmer said in a statement that he plans to sell up to 75 million of his Microsoft shares by the end of the year to 'gain financial diversification and to assist in tax planning.' Based on Friday's closing price of $26.85, the 75M shares would be valued at approximately $2 billion. All of which might make a cynic question what was really important to Microsoft — public education, or a $2B state income tax-free payday for its CEO?"