At least my Globe still comes tax-free, and any such move would really be a stake in the heart of the centuries-old tradition of print.
"Mass. prods Amazon to collect sales taxes" by Michael B. Farrell |
Globe Staff, November 21, 2012
The Patrick administration is pressing Amazon.com Inc. to begin
collecting sales taxes from Massachusetts customers as early as next
year, arguing it is no longer exempt under federal law from charging the
tax.
Who reads books anymore?
Under federal law, online retailers do not have to collect sales
taxes from Massachusetts buyers unless the company has a physical
presence, such as an office or store, in the state. But officials in the
administration of Governor Deval Patrick contend that Amazon’s purchase
of a North Reading technology firm, Kiva Systems, earlier this year, as
well as its ongoing efforts to recruit engineers for a new office in
Cambridge, establish the kind of physical presence necessary to collect
the 6.25 percent sales tax.
Related: Massachusetts Sales Tax Swindle
You see who is needing the money, right?
The state government lost out on an estimated $387 million in 2011
from Massachusetts residents buying products tax-free from online
retailers, according to the Massachusetts Main Street Fairness
Coalition, an association of retailers, unions and local officials.
The group has been pressuring the Patrick administration to compel Amazon to collect and remit state taxes.
Patrick officials said they have meet with Amazon executives at least
a half dozen times over the past six months to discuss how the retailer
would undertake the complex process of programming its system to charge
the Massachusetts tax on qualified purchases.
Patrick said he was encouraged by the progress.
“The conversation with Amazon here is different than the conversation
Amazon had in other states,” the governor said recently. “They have had
and reached agreements in states where they actually have a presence,
where they have a distribution facility . . . they don’t have that
here.”
Even if Amazon and the state do come to terms on tax collections,
Patrick said, “I’m just not sure that we’re going to have an agreement
in place in time for the holidays.”
Amazon would not comment on its talks with Massachusetts.
Amazon now collects taxes in eight states, and six others have set
deadlines for the retailing giant to begin collecting their local levies
because the company now has a facility of some kind in their
jurisdictions.
Much of the progress states have made in capturing those taxes has
come from Amazon’s success, as the firm rapidly expands its
brick-and-mortar facilities.
In New Jersey, for example, Amazon agreed to begin collecting that
state’s 7 percent sales tax on local buyers, beginning July 2013, after
deciding to build two 1 million-square-feet shipping centers there. The
company is building out its network of these massive fulfillment centers
in order to increase its already fast delivery services.
Patrick officials said they would like Massachusetts to get in on
Amazon’s expansion plans, such as having the company add a distribution
facility here, too.
In October, the company announced it would open 19 new facilities
around the world to handle the expected holiday shopping rush — but
declined to name the locations.
In recent months, Amazon has started construction on sprawling
warehouses in California, where it already collects local taxes, and in
Indiana, where it soon will....
In total, it operates 40 such warehouse and shipping facilities in
the United States and employs more than 20,000 people at the centers.
The tax status of Amazon and other Web retailers has ballooned into a
major debate at the federal level, as financially pressed states,
backed by local retailers and other businesses, push Congress to allow
them to tax online sales regardless of the seller’s location.
“This is not simply a revenue issue . . . it is a matter of fairness
and equity to Main Street businesses,” Massachusetts Treasurer Steven
Grossman wrote in a letter to US Senator Max Baucus, head of the
Senate’s Finance Committee, pushing for online tax legislation.
“Local retailers and other merchants should not have to compete with
online sales giants that do not have to collect state and local sales
taxes,” he said. “It is simply contrary to sound public policy to
penalize companies that actually invest in a brick-and-mortar presence
in a community.”
--more--"
"Amazon will begin charging sales tax in Mass.; Deal will lift state’s coffers, pinch its online consumers" by Jenn Abelson and Laura Finaldi |
Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent, December 12, 2012
Amazon, the world’s largest online merchant, said Tuesday that it has
agreed to start collecting the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax in
Massachusetts next November, a move that will cost consumers but
generate tens of millions of dollars for Beacon Hill....
Consumers said they were disappointed to learn they will
not be able to take advantage of tax-free shopping on Amazon.com after
Nov. 1, 2013 — just in time for the next holiday season. Some said they
would look for ways to buy online without being taxed, while others
seemed resigned to the added costs....
I am. I'm back to not buying anything other than food, a Globe, a coffee, and tape for basketball.
Amazon.com said it expects to create hundreds of high-tech jobs in
Massachusetts in coming years, but offered no details.
I'm sick of promises, promises.
See: Those Are the (Tax) Breaks in Massachusetts
And we still lost jobs?
State officials
are engaged in ongoing discussions with Amazon about opening a
distribution center, which could generate significantly more jobs.
Oooh, significantly!
A Massachusetts distribution center could allow Amazon to offer
same-day delivery in New England, something it has been rolling out in
other parts of the country, according to retail analysts.
Jay Gonzalez, Massachusetts’ secretary of administration and finance,
would not comment directly on any economic incentives the Seattle-based
retailer might be offered in return for expanding its operations. The
company recently struck deals in other states, including New Jersey, to
collect sales taxes in exchange for receiving tax breaks to help finance
construction for warehouses and other facilities....
Currently, Massachusetts residents who buy products from online
retailers that do not collect sales taxes are supposed to pay the state
Department of Revenue on their own. Few do, however, and there is little
enforcement.
Online merchants have been protected by a 1992 US Supreme Court
ruling that said they had to collect sales tax only in states where they
have a physical presence. But Internet shopping has exploded in
popularity since then, and the issue of how to tax it has received more
attention in recent years....
As inefficient and corrupt government has scrounged around looking under sofa cushions so they can shovel more money to banks, well-connected corporations, while continuing to live lavish lifestyles at the expense of the taxpayers who are getting drowned.
The Massachusetts Main Street Fairness Coalition, an organization
made up of retailers, local elected officials, labor unions, and trade
and business associations, recently released a study showing the online
sales tax loophole annually costs Massachusetts $280 million in sales to
local businesses and nearly 2,000 jobs. The coalition, which has been
pressuring the Patrick administration to force Amazon to collect taxes,
now plans to focus on getting Congress to pass legislation governing
online taxing.
“It’s a long time coming,” Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers
Association of Massachusetts, said of the Amazon deal with the state.
“It’s a welcome and important win for main street Massachusetts.”
How? I'm not going down there to spend any money.
--more--"
Also see: Amazon leases Kendall Square space
I'll bet the taxpayer-funded subsidy check has already been cut.
Related:
"To be sure, Kendall Square remains a successful business district: Office space is hard to come by, rents are rising, and it boasts a roster of marquee companies, from Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc., to Biogen Idec Inc. that are expanding there. But....
But what, Boston Globe?
--more--"
Right, now it is hip to be Square.
UPDATE: Cambridge needs to ditch parking lots to move ahead
