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Calling B.S. On Amazon's Taxation Arguments
theodp writes "Over at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Michael Mazerov carefully picks apart Amazon's arguments against collecting sales taxes, arguing that they simply do not withstand scrutiny. While Amazon officials say collecting sales tax in every state would be excessively burdensome, Mazerov notes the e-tailer already collects sales tax in virtually every state for numerous other companies that sell on its website. Mazerov also finds it disingenuous for Amazon to argue that it should not have to help support public services in states in which it has no physical presence when the company fails to support public services in most of the states in which it does have a physical presence. Finally, Mazerov isn't buying Amazon's argument that its opposition to collecting sales tax is not driven by a desire to gain a price advantage over competitors, which he finds at odds with the company's own actions and SEC filings. By claiming sales-tax immunity, says Mazerov, Amazon has enjoyed an unfair 5%-10% price advantage over local retailers, while also depriving states and localities of hundreds of millions of dollars of legally due revenue each year."
Ah, so you're going to enjoy your Mad Cow burgers while planning to work into your late 70's since your retirement plan was annihilated in the Ponzi scheme known as Wall Street, and Social Security & Medicare have been repealed. Your kids will happily play with their toys from China that are covered in lead paint while munching on peanut butter & salmonella sandwiches. The fully deregulated power company will quadruple your electric bill while you shop for used hovercrafts so you can skim over the broken, unmaintained roads on your way to work at Wal-Mart.
After you finish your double shift (one for a cleaning contractor, so no overtime), you stock up on fire extinguishers, first aid kits and shotguns to make up for the loss of public fire departments, police departments, and ambulance services. You herniate a disk while shoveling your own dike to protect you from flooding, which your insurance company promptly denies coverage for (you didn't disclose the fact that you had acne as a teenager) so their CEO can be worth three quarters of a billion dollars.
Which blows your water purification fund, which you were saving so you could remove the mercury, arsenic and cholera from your drinking water. But you can bask in the marvels of the free market AND mob rule, all the while saving yourself the cost of moving to that ultimate Libertarian paradise, Somalia.
Low taxes have high costs.