Two wrongs don't make a right is my thoughts on the Amazon California Sales Tax.

The affiliate tax attempt by the California goverment was stupid.  All Amazon, Overstock, and other large non CA based businesses did was stop doing affliiates within California.  Hurting a lot of small businesses  that were using Amazon to make money through affiliates (I read some place there were 25,000 of them). Amazon would pay the linker (affiliate or referrer) a percentage of the sale, or in plain speak a kick back).

For smaller businesses (under $10,000 payouts and $500,000 overall sales) within CA for the past 12 months.

And Amazon, with a $3 Million kickstart) is now getting a petition going to get a ballet initiative to overturn the law.  And paying for the opposition will be target and Walmart.  Each signature is worth $1 to $2 for the person collecting it.

I don't appreciate the ballet initiative being mis-used like this.

But unfortunately the sales tax nationally is a mess with thousands of different districts that are not bound by zip codes.  And the effort on a uniform national sales tax rate (simplified) is still stuck.

Amazon gathering anti-tax-law signatures outside retail stores - LA Times


http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-amazon-petition-20110806,0,5932785.story

Labels: amazon