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I wonder if there isn't a hidden threat there, too... That they'll pull jobs from California if they don't get their way? They're obviously able to choose where the jobs go, or this offer wouldn't make sense at all.
Unlikely to deter the tax. 7000 added jobs not much compared to the hundreds of millions California projects to earn from the ecommerce tax.
It's a sad day when corporations can openly blackmail the government.
Oh come on. This isn't blackmail, it's offering an exchange that's win-win. California wants - actually, badly NEEDS - jobs; Amazon wants to avoid or at least delay the sales tax. They have every ethical and legal right to make the proposal. If I'm selling burgers for $5, and you give me $5 for one because you're hungry, am I "blackmailing" you to get your cash? Perhaps I'm missing something? If so, please point it o…
The reality is that the jobs brought in will amount to about 2% of the sales tax revenue that would be brought in. But do you think the public will understand the math, or the phrase "voted against job creation"?
It's a sad day when corporations can openly blackmail the government.
Oh come on. This isn't blackmail, it's offering an exchange that's win-win. California wants - actually, badly NEEDS - jobs; Amazon wants to avoid or at least delay the sales tax. They have every ethical and legal right to make the proposal. If I'm selling burgers for $5, and you give me $5 for one because you're hungry, am I "blackmailing" you to get your cash? Perhaps I'm missing something? If so, please point it o…
First, Amazon has studiously avoided any effort to collect state sales tax. They use a variety of clever dodges to raise doubt that their design and development shops in CA amount to a business presence in CA. The "affiliates" program, recently shut in CA, was another such dodge. Same with the distribution centers being a "separate" company.
Then, when the state decides to go ahead with collecting something that is theirs to collect, Amazon tries to deflect it by raising a totally different matter (jobs in the state). The fact that they're not arguing their sales tax case directly, but threatening to pull jobs, is another aspect of the case you're missing.
I don't see how this is "win-win".
Here's a summary of the TX situation:
http://www.internetretailer.com/2011/05/16/texas-moves-ahead...
Featuring this choice quote which is replete with doublethink:
"We're committed to growth in Tennessee because the people here have demonstrated their commitment to Amazon jobs and investment," says Dave Clark, vice president of Amazon North America Operations.
It's a sad day when corporations can openly blackmail the government.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh come on. This isn't blackmail, it's offering an exchange that's win-win. California wants - actually, badly NEEDS - jobs; Amazon wants to avoid or at least delay the sales tax. They have every ethical and legal right to make the proposal. If I'm selling burgers for $5, and you give me $5 for one because you're hungry, am I "blackmailing" you to get your cash? Perhaps I'm missing something? If so, please point it o…
There are two things you're missing. First, Amazon has studiously avoided any effort to collect state sales tax. They use a variety of clever dodges to raise doubt that their design and development shops in CA amount to a business presence in CA. The "affiliates" program, recently shut in CA, was another such dodge. Same with the distribution centers being a "separate" company. Then, when the state decides to go ahea…
The fact that Amazon is posturing is inconsequential; the State is doing the same thing, and it doesn't really change the core question.
It was just a few weeks ago I was watching Steve Jobs give his pitch for Apple's new campus in California -- at one point Jobs broke out the idea that the benefit to the state was Apple paying their taxes. In other words the way a company is a good corporate citizen is by increasing the tax base. What's sad here is that Jobs was talking about payroll tax, not even sales tax. The right thing for Amazon to do is to col…
It was just a few weeks ago I was watching Steve Jobs give his pitch for Apple's new campus in California -- at one point Jobs broke out the idea that the benefit to the state was Apple paying their taxes. In other words the way a company is a good corporate citizen is by increasing the tax base. What's sad here is that Jobs was talking about payroll tax, not even sales tax. The right thing for Amazon to do is to col…
With that said, state sales tax has always been about collecting tax if the business has a presence in the state. This works for Amazon all the way down to the mom and pop that sells across the internet to people in another state.
Most (all?) states have a line item on their tax forms where the tax payer can write in a value on items they purchased out of state and need to pay taxes on. I'm guessing very few people fill that line in. It touches on another problem that no one wants to pay taxes (they always want someone else to pay), yet they want more and more services from the government.