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Jeff Bezos Calls Sales Tax Requirements On Amazon Unconstitutional
Steve1960 writes "Amazon.com chief Jeff Bezos says the online retailer won't collect tax from most of its 90 million customers until Congress clearly mandates it. Although a growing number of states are demanding that Amazon collect and remit tax on sales within their borders, such demands are 'interference in interstate commerce' and prohibited by the Constitution, Bezos said."
I suspect that there is a reason why Bezos sells stuff on the internet, rather than practicing constitutional law. If I've been following the case correctly, the states demanding action are states where Amazon has a business presence and a customer. They are simply making an intra-state demand that those doing business in the state collect sales taxes, per usual.
A state with no Amazon business would be on dubious interstate-commerce ice(though post Gonzales v. Raich virtually anything is arguably interstate commerce); but saying "businesses wishing to conduct business in this state must abide by state laws" is hardly a bold arrogation of interstate powers. Bezos is, shockingly enough, just protective of his ~5% advantage over the B&Ms...
Quill Corp. v. North Dakota
"In prison you just have to shut your eyes and take it. Here you have to shut your eyes and give it."
Except it is unconstitutional for a state to tax or regulate interstate commerce. Imagine if California could put a tariff on Florida Orange juice coming into the state to protect California growers?
That is one of those things that is clearly forbidden in the constitution. The issue is that the internet confuses where the commerce is taking place but it is no different than catalog sales and those are also not taxed.
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Jesus, I wish people would stop spreading this myth. The poor pay sales tax, license taxes, state taxes (yes, the poor pay state taxes) and of course PAY ROLL TAXES. The poor, and I mean the really poor since we haven't raised the poverty line since Regan, don't pay Federal Income Tax. I make 30k/yr, I pay about 2k of that in Federal income tax, and I'm poor. I have no security, lousy health care and no safety net. I have a lot of electronic crap bought cheap & used. That doesn't make me rich. Stability & security make a man rich.
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The really poor actually pay a disproportionately high percentage of their income in taxes because sales, gas etc. taxes are not indexed to income.
After a certain level of income is reached tax rates start going down until you start becoming liable for federal income tax. This group is not necessarily poor, but is certainly not well off.
At this point your rates start going up.
After you reach a certain level of wealth the rate starts going down again on average because more income tends to come from dividends, tax free bonds, and cap gains which are tax advantaged.
This is why Warren Buffet can go around saying he pays a lower tax rate on his income than his secretary.
Amazon collects tax it has actually presences in, such as Washington State.
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
If states can allow and levy taxes on Indian Casinos, why can they not levy taxes on corporations selling to or from their state?
Bzzt. Wrong. States do NOT levy taxes on tribal casinos that are operated on tribal land.
Per federal law, tribes operating gaming establishments must enter into Tribal-State Compacts. with their respective States.
Any money the State gets is per Compact negotiations ultimately derived from Federal law, and in fact these compacts are not legal until they are accepted and entered into the Federal Registry. Furthermore, the federal laws governing this entire situation specifically point out that they do NOT give the States the authority to "impose any taxes, fee, charge, or other assessment upon an Indian tribe."
Now get off my lawn, nub.
"His name was James Damore."
47% of American households do not contribute to the federal budget.
That's just plain false.
40% of the federal budget comes from payroll taxes. That's a 15.3% tax on all wages up to about 90k or so. It's 2.3% after that. It's 0% on rich people income like dividends, capital gains, interest, etc.
The poor may not pay income taxes... but they don't have much income. The rich don't pay payroll taxes, and they have a ton of income.
If you add it all up, the very, very poor come out at about 0 on taxes. Once you get into the lower middle class, federal taxes are pretty much flat-rate from then on - income taxes go up, tax breaks go up (like home mortgage deductions), payroll taxes go down, and more income comes from "favored" means like dividends and capital gains that are taxed at very low rates and interest that doesn't get a payroll tax.
paintball