New Sales Tax Laws In Ny

[herb fellows]

To anyone who resides in NY State, as of yesterday, you will have the distinction of being one of only 5 states that must pay taxes on Amazon.
NYs is claiming that because Amazon (and other large retailers) pay affiliate websites commissions, and some of those websites are run from NYS, therefore Amazon has 'employees' in NYS, which is the criteria for requiring them to collect sales tax.
Foolishly, imo, amazon did not give its customers any notice of this. I found out when I went to purchase a saw this morning and found that not only did the price of the saw go up $9.00, but now there was a $16 tax added for a total of $25 more than it was on Saturday!
So, I can buy it from Amazon and wait a week or so to get it, or i can go about a mile from the house and get it for $8 cheaper, net.
This new law applies to anyone who gets referrals for over $10,000 worth of merchandise from 'affiliates' in NYS, although I can't imagine how they would prove that to be the case.
Hmmmmmm, I wonder what I'll do.........

[Russianwolf]

on a side note, both Amazon and Overstock have filed suit asking for an injunction on the rulling until the constitutionality of it can be determined.

[Hoover]

Amazon is based here in Washington, so we have to pay 8.9% sales tax. One of the advantages of internet buying is not having to pay sales tax. I don't buy much from Amazon because of the tax. May the tax ruling be overturned in your favor.

[vaking]

I am not a lawer but I think that the law actually requires you to pay taxes on Internet purchases. The key difference here is that in one case you (that is you personally) are required to report amount of Internet purchases and pay taxes on it at the end of the year(like you are also required to report tips and pay taxes on it) vs retailer like Amazon being required to collect taxes from you at time of purchase. I understand Amazon being upset about it - it gives smaller guys an edge.

[newbie2wood]

I tell you what I did. I moved out of NYC to NJ many years ago.

The only problem now is the influx of New Yorkers along with their liberal thinking (e.g. Gov. Corzine).
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[Hoover]

I
The only problem now is the influx of New Yorkers along with their liberal thinking (e.g. Gov. Corzine).

Hmm, bordering on politics

[dkerfoot]

Hmm, bordering on politics

Bordering? That is kinda like saying Houston is bordering on Texas!

I sell on Amazon as an affiliate and they have no function for being able to charge sales tax to Michigan residents. I end up eating 6% because they don't have the most basic of controls.

[Russianwolf]

I am not a lawer but I think that the law actually requires you to pay taxes on Internet purchases. The key difference here is that in one case you (that is you personally) are required to report amount of Internet purchases and pay taxes on it at the end of the year(like you are also required to report tips and pay taxes on it) vs retailer like Amazon being required to collect taxes from you at time of purchase. I understand Amazon being upset about it - it gives smaller guys an edge.

what about those that don't have a state sales tax? Every state is different and putting that burden on internet sellers is really too much.

[moc]

what about those that don't have a state sales tax? Every state is different and putting that burden on internet sellers is really too much.

I will respectfully disagree. How hard is it for Amazon to have a database of sales taxes for each zip code they ship to? They manage to keep track of every Amazon search I've ever made (even if it was just to settle a bet - I don't need recommendations based on my search of Brittney Spears' CDs! I swear!!).

*moc

[Ed62]

what about those that don't have a state sales tax?

I didn't know there were any states that did not have a sales tax. I remember when Indiana didn't have one, but that was quite a few years ago.

Ed

[Hoover]

[QUOTE=dkerfoot;349360]Bordering? That is kinda like saying Houston is bordering on Texas!

Thank you for taking my words out of context! I was responding to newbie2wood's response, not anything else. Good grief!! Kindly read the entire post, it wasn't directed at you.

[herb fellows]

I tell you what I did. I moved out of NYC to NJ many years ago.

The only problem now is the influx of New Yorkers along with their liberal thinking (e.g. Gov. Corzine).

Probably best to leave ideology/politics out of it. NJ certainly has more than its share of problems, starting with car insurance prices and property taxes. Don't really want to play 'my state can beat up your state' here, just wanted to inform the fine folks here that have always been so terrific at imparting their knowledge. I guess a little grumbling went along with that, and for that I apologize, wrong place to do it.

[herb fellows]

I am not a lawer but I think that the law actually requires you to pay taxes on Internet purchases. The key difference here is that in one case you (that is you personally) are required to report amount of Internet purchases and pay taxes on it at the end of the year(like you are also required to report tips and pay taxes on it) vs retailer like Amazon being required to collect taxes from you at time of purchase. I understand Amazon being upset about it - it gives smaller guys an edge.

Yes, you are correct, we are required to report all out of state internet purchases and pay taxes on them, by law.
Like virtually everyone else, however, I choose to not do this. Maybe that's being on the wrong side of the morality of the issue, but it's one of the very few places that I choose to do this. I guess that's a failing on my part, but, hey, I never claimed to be perfect. I don't steal children's candy, don't beat either my dog or my wife, and do contribute considerably to charities. I think I'll allow myself this one guilty pleasure!

[herb fellows]

Bordering? That is kinda like saying Houston is bordering on Texas!

I sell on Amazon as an affiliate and they have no function for being able to charge sales tax to Michigan residents. I end up eating 6% because they don't have the most basic of controls.

I think the reason they lack those basic controls is because they don't want to admit to the powers that be that they can collect taxes. The law does not say you don't have to pay sales tax on internet purchases, just that it is not the job of the internet companies to collect it for the individual states (unless that company has a physical presence in your state). It was passed because the internet companies stated that it would be a logistical nightmare for them to be required to follow all the sales tax rules that exist for each state.
If Amazon started doing this for their vendors, they would be admitting that it can be done, a position in which they don't want to put themselves.

[herb fellows]

on a side note, both Amazon and Overstock have filed suit asking for an injunction on the rulling until the constitutionality of it can be determined.

True, but I understand that Overstock has dealt with this by cutting loose all referral websites that are NY based, certainly a different way of dealing with it than Amazon chose. This will obviously hurt the 'referral websites', but given the choices they have, I think it was the better approach. Of course, as the consumer, I'm biased.
I don't understand why this was allowed to take place by Amazon's lawyers. They had plenty of time, I believe, to get this injunction and at the very least to delay this decision in the courts for years. Something I'm not usually a fan of, but in this case I'm willing to make an exception!
If I felt the money was going to do something good maybe I would be a little more forgiving of this, but when our governor was using our tax dollars to get hookers, and the morality of our new governor is certainly in question, and on the federal level you have stories of senators getting millions of our tax dollars to build a bridge that goes nowhere just to get federal tax dollars into his state, at some point you just want to say 'enough'!