eBay Says Let’s Make a Deal to California’s Internet Sales Tax Legislation
“Yes, I’ve met with eBay quite a lot,” said Assembly member Nancy Skinner (D), who introduced the bill. Skinner told Tax Analysts that eBay is concerned about the proposal’s impact on lower-volume sellers, and the two sides have discussed raising the $10,000 threshold.
Internet auction giant eBay Inc. is negotiating language in a proposed California “Amazon” law (AB 153) in hopes of reducing the number of its sellers that could be required to collect sales taxes.
The click-through nexus legislation would require remote sellers to collect state sales taxes if they make $10,000 or more in annual sales through California affiliates that receive a commission. Much of the attention has centered on Amazon.com, but eBay — a California-based company — also receives commissions from its sellers, who could then be required to remit California sales taxes.
“We hope to come to a threshold that they feel good about,” Skinner said. “But I’m certainly not going to be making the law ineffectual.”
This entire exercise which will lose California jobs and provide NO new measurable tax revenue is looking more and more like a “JUICE BILL.”
The divide and conquer of business interests, the campaign contributions, the never ending amendments and tweaks to the bills. My God, no wonder American business is so fed up with the political process – particularly the Democrats in the California Legislature.
So, the legislation will linger on and Assemblywoman will have all the attention and PAC money the business interest will provide.
In the meantime, the Amazon.com and other business sales affiliates will sweat out whether they will have a job or not.
How disgraceful…..
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2 Comments
uscitizen
I am confused as to why there has to be any exception for any size business? My wife and I manage our own small business with a home grown website that we enabled to calculate, collect and remit sales tax for any of the thousands of tax jurisdictions in the United States. We utilize a service certified by the Streamline States Governing Board so any audit errors become the liability of the streamline states. The best part is the service is provided free of charge. Even more interesting is that I utilize PayPal Express checkout buttons on my website. When my customer clicks on the PayPal checkout button the tax is calculated based on the destination zip code and automatically billed to the consumer and then the streamline state receives the revenue within 45 days. So if my small business with less than $50,000 in annual sales can calculate, collect and remit sales tax for any jurisdiction in the United States why can’t Ebay. Consumers are legally obligated to remit uncollected sales tax on all out of state and internet purchases. I have chosen to save my customers the burden of keeping track of and filing sales tax returns providing essential funding to their communities children’s education, health care, public libraries, infrastructure and so much more. Sales tax is a small percentage collected at the time of purchase remitted back to the jurisdiction of the purchasing consumer to pay for all the services benefitting the consumer. Sales tax is legally due on all purchases made either from brick and mortar, catalogue, or Internet merchants. The technology exists for all businesses to calculate, collect and remit sales tax legally due benefitting all of us.
Gregory Flap Cole
I don’t believe the Streamline States model has been adopted by all of the states.
But, if it so easy then the Congress should look at it as a federal law.
Then, there is the federal issue of Nexus.