Lateralus

Bah!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,1581429.story

Beginning Saturday, Amazon.com Inc. will start collecting Pennsylvania sales tax on orders that are shipped to the state, a spokesman said Wednesday.

The online retail giant had previously refused to register to collect Pennsylvania's 6 percent levy on its orders. But a spokesman said the company reversed itself because a state directive requiring it takes effect Saturday.


"We believe that customers (in Pennsylvania) will continue to come to Amazon because we offer the best prices with or without sales tax," said the spokesman, Scott Stanzel.

The Seattle-based company currently collects sales taxes on orders shipped to six other states — Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, New York, Texas and Washington. It plans to add California to the list on Sept. 15, he said.

Stanzel said Amazon believes questions about the taxation of online purchases should be resolved by federal legislation that uniformly gives states that authority. Two bills are pending in Congress, and he says there appears to be growing support for such a law.

The company has been advising Pennsylvania customers about the change in policy if they inquire about it, Stanzel said.

Amazon's reversal was a victory for the state Revenue Department, which contends that existing law requires online retailers to collect the Pennsylvania tax if they have a physical presence — a warehouse, for example — that creates a "nexus" with the state.

Amazon has six fulfillment centers in Pennsylvania — two apiece in Breinigsville in Lehigh County and Carlisle in Cumberland County, and one each in Luzerne and York counties, Stanzel said.

In December, the Revenue Department issued a bulletin to clarify that certain other activities also trigger tax-collection obligations for online companies, such as employing anyone who regularly travels to the state for any purpose related to their business activities.

The department originally gave companies until Feb. 1 to register or face possible actions ranging from audits to criminal prosecution. Officials later decided that deadline was impractical and pushed it to Saturday.

A department spokesman declined to comment on Amazon's decision.

whotony

i just saw this on the news. sucks.

Hopefully Fla wont get added anytime soon.

Shannon Nutt

It's not like this is going to drive me to the brick and mortar stores. Adding a dollar or two isn't going to change the fact that I'll still probably find the best price on Amazon. Although I still don't understand how states can ask for the tax if Amazon isn't physically located within the state. I guess it's just easier for Amazon to give in than to constantly be harassed by these state governments.

whotony

i still live near Del so I guess more buying there.

Shannon Nutt

I wonder if it gets added to prebooks you already made? Anyone know?

fujishig

They do have fulfillment centers there. If you read my thread about the CA tax, the CA counties where the fulfillment centers are will get all of the taxes collected, and are basically giving the lion's share back to Amazon. While this will still tick off people used to not paying taxes, Amazon is making even more money off of the "taxes" so I can see why they "give in."

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/store-forum...es-tax-ca.html

Solid Snake

I'm still pissed about the Taxes we have to here now in Texas. Wait...Taxes...Texas...holy shit. I've never noticed that. Damn you, Amazon!

fujishig

They usually say that anything shipping after the tax date will be charged tax...

ultimaton

All of the items I preordered prior to Amazon's deal with Texas have been taxed upon their release.

BuddhaWake

This blows for me, but I'll still go to amazon since is just more convinient for me but it will sting a bit.

thetao

Thanks for the heads-up. Hadn't heard this on the local news. It will make me shop around more, but probably won't ultimately put a huge dent in my Amazon purchases.

Vipper II

I'm really surprised PA got hit before MD, the state that loves to tax things.

BuddhaWake

amazon said they contacted customers but I never got a thing saying PA was being charged tax. It was on the news thursday to start 2 days later. lame.

neilo13

I guess Amazon won't be the first place I look to buy things, but I'll probably end up using them anyway. I've been paying the sales tax all my life, the internet was a blessing as that 6% really adds up, especially when making large purchases, like a car.

Does anyone know if this applies to digital purchases as well as physical?

Pizza

So, how many cars did you buy on the internet?

neilo13

None, but I did buy one this year, and so thrown off by the extra $1500, then I remembered the stupid sales tax, grrrr.

Shannon Nutt

Actually, I think it says above that Amazon didn't mention it unless someone concacted them and asked. I am surprised they didn't send customers an email notice when it went into effect though.

I just wished they had waited until January 1st. All those big releases in September just got a little more expensive.

Viper187

Interesting this would kick in in the middle of the year right before the goddamn xmas shopping season as opposed to Jan 1st. I already changed my game preorders for fall to NewEgg. I was doing a little Googling and found an article from a few years ago regarding NY getting NewEgg to impose tax, when NewEgg doesn't even have warehouses there. At first they complied, but they later decided to tell the state where to stick their tax. Hence, there's no PA sales tax at NewEgg right now either. Anyone got other good alternatives to Amazon these days? DeepDiscount went to shit. I stopped using them a few years ago, and I don't think I want to go back. Only thing that sucks about NewEgg is their free shipping on small stuff is always UPS MI now.

I'm surprised some prick hasn't showed up in this thread to scream that anyone that's buying tax free online is obligated to report it on their taxes anyway. Fuck them. Like people don't have enough shit to worry about without keeping track of every online purchase and whether or not the store charged them tax? Half the point of ordering expensive stuff online is to avoid the tax! I wonder if it's possible to get a foreign credit card so tax free purchases can't be tracked by an audit later.

TheBang

How about maybe just one "Amazon State Sales Tax" thread, that tracks the status of all the states?

thetao

There's no drop-in replacement for Amazon, but there are dozens of smaller companies, depending on what you're looking for. I may be trying Albiris very soon for the first time, for used DVD's.

BTW, I hadn't realized you're in PA! You're one of the other Viva case fans. Small world.

Given the current push for smaller government, I think the chance of the average person getting their taxes audited is less than it used to be.

Viper187

For used stuff, I noticed you can still order from Amazon's marketplace sellers without being taxed so long as their not the ones fulfilled by Amazon.

Yeah, I'm over between Pittsburgh and Erie.