| View this article at: http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/01/13/amazon.tax.upheld.by.state/ |
Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009 4:55pm
New York court throws out Amazon lawsuit on tax law |
Amazon's lawsuit against a state of New York law that has online retailers having to collect taxes from residents of a state despite not having a physical office or base in the state has been thrown out of court by a judge on Monday. The law, passed in April and called the Commission-Agent Provision, names any affiliate linking to Amazon or any other online retailer that is responsible for more than $10,000 in sales as a part of Amazon or any online retailer in question and thereby entitles the state to collect taxes on the sales. Now, short of a successful trial in the Court of Appeals, Amazon and other online retailers will be forced to collect and pay taxes from every sale to a New York resident, which could set a likely damaging precedent to online sales.If Amazon goes on to appeal the decision and is again unsuccessful, its New York-based affiliates who account for more than $10,000 in sales will be on the hook for the taxes. Overstock suspended affiliate accounts based in New York in May because of the law. |