Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
Potentially: sure. States could reasonably say, "if you promise to create $##,###,###.## in economic activity in our state over the next X years, you are exempt from [Y-type] taxes for that period of time."
Oregon manages with no sales taxes; other states could presumably find other ways to fund their public activities. More jobs = more homeowners = more income & property taxes. More sales, even online sales = more cars, gas sales, more post office activity, more packaging costs, more income taxes for the company itself. A state could look over its budgets and decide that sales tax revenue could be offset by other kinds of economic activity, and encourage those activities by cutting back on or removing sales taxes.
It's not the "goes tax-free" that bugs me; it's the special deal only available to Amazon. If Amazon's going to bring enough revenue to the state that it's worth keeping them without charging sales tax, than so would any company of comparable size & activity level.
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I don't mind a tax-free proposition either, if the state wants to do that, but I don't like the "hostage" tone Amazon is taking. I've been following the Texas situation for awhile now and Amazon has just been a PR nightmare if you look at the tone arguments they've been putting out.
I also do not know how a presence that is basically a warehouse for storing goods to be shipping to Texas, Oklahoma, etc. is going to generate X "economic activity".
That Texas warehouse only employed a handful of employees (in the grand scheme of things), and didn't bring in tourists or shoppers from other areas. It didn't even serve Texas customers -- prime customers get their stuff in 2 days regardless of whether or not that Texas warehouse is there. (Non-primers get their stuff at pretty much the same rate too, I reckon.)
The ONLY thing their presence in the state gives Texas is a few hundred jobs. Which is nice, but not *crucial*, and for Amazon to take this high-and-mighty tone of "oh, if you're going to make us follow the rules, we'll just leave, what do you think about THAT, huh?" Eh. I know a lot of folks who were amused with the newspaper response was not to let the door hit them on the way out.
NOW they want to make deals. And that's....well, okay, I guess. But why should they get to do that? B&N employees more Texans than Amazon's little warehouse will, but NookBook taxes aren't going anywhere.
Anyway, as you say, those purchases are meant to be taxed regardless of Amazon's presence in the state. Amz just doesn't want to collect them.
And they're playing Texas two-step with their OWN employees in an attempt to tug heartstrings in Texas over it. I don't like it.