Tag archive: tax

Earlier this week, both Amazon and eBay had a public debate in Washington in front of the House Judiciary Committee about the creation of a standard Internet sales tax that could be adopted by any state seeking increased tax revenue according to CNNMoney. Recently on the opposite side of the argument, Amazon is currently arguing in favor of a standardized tax in order to simplify the tax collection process. It's likely that Amazon wants… Read More

Amazon, Overstock and similar companies may be facing new taxes in California. The golden state has passed a bill in the Assembly which will tax retail internet sales, and now the piece of legislation is on its way to the Senate. AB 155, which passed 47-16, is the doing of Democratic Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D-Whittier). The bill would close a loophole that proponents say gives online stores an advantage over brick-and-mortar stores such as… Read More

The Sunday Times published a story yesterday claiming that Google was avoiding UK taxes by channeling its revenue through Ireland, where the tax rate is much lower. According to the story, the Internet giant took in £1.25 billion in revenue in the UK, but paid only £600,000 in taxes. Instead, it’s claimed, the company channeled around 90% of its revenue through Ireland, where the tax rate is just 12.5%, as opposed to 28%… Read More

Sony isn't in great shape. It just reported a mammoth $2.9 billion annual loss, the kind that typically results in some massive soul searching. The fact that Apple didn't do that badly certainly indicates Sony could do better. This kind of financial result typically causes executives to depart, especially when Sony was forecasting a mammoth profit as late as October. So why is Sony in the toilet, and does this mean the end of… Read More

When New York State finally passed its budget last week with a hotly contested law referred to as the “Amazon Tax,”  spectators expected trouble. Not surprisingly, a week later, Amazon is rolling out the legal cannons to fight the law, which forces it to collect sales tax in the state despite having no physical presence there. According to the New York Times, the state government managed to twist Amazon into its tax… Read More

Seattle's notorious “spam king” Robert Soloway has plead guilty to three charges in U.S. District Court in Seattle today, including fraud, email fraud, and failing to file a tax return. The fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years; the email fraud charge has a maximum sentence of five years, while failing to file an income tax return might net Soloway another year. Soloway was arrested in May 2007 and… Read More

The Copyright Board of Canada has approved a new tax on music purchased through download services (PDF) like Napster, Yahoo Music, and the ever-popular iTunes. The tariff will amount to roughly three cents (Canadian) on an individual song that sells for $0.99, or about 1.5 cents per track sold in an album. The tariff is intended as a way to compensate artists for lost sales due to digital music piracy, and will be retroactive to… Read More

On Friday, the Florida Senate passed a bill that would have prevented collection of the a tax that affects VoIP users until 2006, and sent it to the House. But House Speaker Johnnie Byrd refused to consider it, said John Stargel, a Republican in the Florida House of Representatives. “I don't think the speaker really understood the issues or took the time to understand what this tax will do to businesses in Florida and businesses… Read More

Though state revenue agencies similarly sought sales tax on mail-order items before the e-commerce boom of the late 90s, Internet sales have “really shined a spotlight on it and increased the urgency,” said Harley Duncan, executive director of the Federation of Tax Administrators. By law, residents are supposed to pay sales taxes to their states if they order books, clothing, computers and other items by mail or online… Read More

Ohio Governor Bob Taft signed into law earlier today. The sales tax was not imposed on local cable television services, even though satellite television companies compete with incumbent cable operators in the same market. The lawsuit was filed in the Court of Common Pleas, Franklin County, Ohio. The suit seeks a declaratory judgment holding that the satellite-only tax is unconstitutional and requests a permanent injunction against… Read More