Amazon Fights New York Over 'Amazon Tax Bill'

Our much-debauched former governor may have abandoned the "Amazon Tax Bill" before he was ousted from office, but my fellow New Yorkers and I are still facing a sales tax on Amazon purchases that could bring New York state up to $50 million.

Amazon is suing New York to void the new sales tax rules, in which New York says that Amazon has a presence in the state (and must therefore collect state sales taxes on behalf of the state) because of the presence of thousands of affiliates - sites like Homotron, for instance, which link to Amazon's online store - that are registered in New York.

Amazon, as one would expect, challenges the new rules based upon their questionable constitutionality - redefining "presence" on the rather shaky ground that by being affiliated and providing a pipeline to Amazon's services, tiny blogs such as ours are somehow part of the company's footprint.

If we are, I could use a promotion and a raise. And health insurance.

Interested readers should note that this is a pretty technical matter of tax law, which the good lord knows is hardly my area of expertise. That said, the issue isn't about whether New Yorkers should pay sales tax on out-of-state purchases - that's what "use tax" is for, apparently - but rather whether Amazon should be forced to collect sales and use taxes itself, which by some economical magic would increase tax revenue.

The bastards.

Amazon Fights New York on "Amazon Tax Bill" [CybernetNews]