Will Amazon Get a Visit From the Tax Man?

theodp writes to tell us that according to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon.com has raised a few eyebrows with their strategy to avoid paying sales tax in eight states where they have warehouses or distribution centers. "As an online retailer, Amazon can avoid collecting sales tax in states where it has no presence, at least until Congress changes the law. But in states where a company has actual facilities, such as warehouses, states tax officials can require the company to collect sales tax. Despite operating hundreds of thousands of square feet of distribution facilities in the eight states, Amazon says it doesn't have any presence in them. The company argues that it doesn't operate the plants, its wholly owned subsidiaries do."

Comments

Re:Of course it will

[spun]

The rich do not provide jobs. That's like saying prison wardens supply housing. Jobs exist because people need things and other people are willing to WORK to provide them. The rich provide nothing. They are fat, bloated parasites who have convinced their suffering hosts that they are necessary. What would happen if we shot all the rich? Would the money disappear? Would the jobs go away? No. Others would easily pick up the slack and do whatever 'job' the rich were doing.

Re:Of course it will

[spun]

Nope. Small businesses are small and agile. They can make changes more quickly than larger businesses, who really need the stability. They also have less infrastructure to protect, and use fewer public resources.

Re:Subsistence crime

[DerekLyons]

It is in the interest of the people to provide a safety net for those who cannot earn enough to feed, clothe, house, and educate their families. A slight subsidy to lower-income families helps keep them out of subsistence crime.

That was a workable and plausible theory in the past. [Illicit] drugs changed all that.