Friday, July 29, 2011

Amazon Tax Fight Heads To Congress, Says Report

The battle of states against e-commerce giant Amazon.com appears to be moving to Congress, on reports that a bill was expected to be introduced today giving states the ability to tax Amazon.com. The Main Street Fairness Act, co-sponsored by Sen. Dick Durban (D-Ill.) and Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), would require electronic retailers like Amazon to collect taxes for states, according to a report Friday from Politico. The move comes just a few short weeks after Amazon was forced into battle with the State of California, when Gov. Jerry Brown signed into a law requiring the e-commerce firm to collect sales taxes on purchases made by California residents. Amazon has so far refused to, and also has cut ties to all of its affiliates in the state. The controversial move--which Amazon has repeated in a state-by-state battle over tax collection--resulted in such companies as Los Angeles-based Savings.com, as well as countless other small businesses, to lose a big chunk of their affiliate revenues.