A guide to why Amazon is losing the tax battle

[L.J. Sellers]

A thoughtful post from Geekwire.
http://www.geekwire.com/2011/guide-a...ing-tax-battle

One important highlight: "Amazon has put no human face on its efforts. They’ve completely missed the opportunity to highlight hundreds of small entrepreneurs, bloggers and business owners who earn revenue from Amazon links. They could use these people as examples of who will be hurt in this fight....Amazon’s fast growth can be attributed in part to the vast participation in its affiliate program. Amazon links are second only to Google Adsense links on publishers’ sites. Yet, Amazon has not reached out to its base."

[Andrew H.]

I don't think that Amazon is losing the tax battle, and I'm not sure where the writer gets this idea. Amazon operates three distribution centers in my area, and has just announced a fourth. Amazon, the governor, and various community officials in the counties with distribution centers have not been shy in pointing out that it is our "tax friendly" policies that encouraged Amazon to build distribution centers here, nor in noting that these facilities employ a couple of thousand people with entry level salaries of between $12-20/hr, with full medical.

In any event, Amazon is not losing the battle here.

[Kali Yuga]

Uh, I'd say that the way Walmart is orchestrating things behind the scenes, and how it boils down to Amazon and a few big-box retailers duking it out over a competitive advantage, is a much stronger insight by the article....

[OtterBooks]

"The Alliance for Main Street Fairness, which was so successful in bringing about the victory in Illinois against Amazon, was founded by Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers. Soak that in for a moment. Wal-Mart backing something with the words “mainstreet fairness.” That should either make you laugh or sick to your stomach."

Wow. Did not know that.

[RainingLemur]

Wal-Mart. Fairness.

Yeah. Ok.

[anamardoll]

I actually received an ARC recently; the title escapes my memory at the moment, but the gist is that Wal-mart has cleaned up its act and become more ethical recently. I'm extremely skeptical, but I'll give it a read.

I do think that Amazon is losing the PR battle on this front. I live in Texas, and I have to say that the local attitudes towards how Amazon conducted itself down here have been extremely negative (myself included). Honestly, I agree with the OP that, if anything else, Amazon could and should be characterizing this issue very differently.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

I actually received an ARC recently; the title escapes my memory at the moment, but the gist is that Wal-mart has cleaned up its act and become more ethical recently. I'm extremely skeptical, but I'll give it a read.

I do think that Amazon is losing the PR battle on this front. I live in Texas, and I have to say that the local attitudes towards how Amazon conducted itself down here have been extremely negative (myself included). Honestly, I agree with the OP that, if anything else, Amazon could and should be characterizing this issue very differently.

I also live in Texas. The Amazon fiasco (after I actually looked at what was on the table following my initial knee jerk reaction) made Governor Goodhair look like a drooling fool.

If you read the actual bill, Perry and his crowd were asserting that because Amazon had warehouses in Texas, Texas could charge a sales tax on a transaction betrlween a seller in Georgia and a buyer in New Mexico. Pay attention to the implications of that because this idiot is now exploring a presidential run.

I haven't read the California bill, and I assume it isn't loopy in that way. But California does not have a tax problem. California has a spending problem, and a big problem with businesses packing up and moving. If Amazon pulls out it won't be making a different decision than any of the other businesses leaving California, and I see nothing to hold against them.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Phogg

I also live in Texas. The Amazon fiasco (after I actually looked at what was on the table following my initial knee jerk reaction) made Governor Goodhair look like a drooling fool.

But wasn't that already the case?

[vaughnmr]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

I do think that Amazon is losing the PR battle on this front. I live in Texas, and I have to say that the local attitudes towards how Amazon conducted itself down here have been extremely negative (myself included). Honestly, I agree with the OP that, if anything else, Amazon could and should be characterizing this issue very differently.

Not in my Texas neighborhood...

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

Not in my Texas neighborhood...

Well, it's a big state.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

But wasn't that already the case?

Pretty much. Since the whole eminent domain abuse in the Trans Texas Corridor came to light, and the Gardasil scandal.
But the Govornor in Texas actually has even less power than the Leutenant Governor - so all we ever get running for the office are crooks and nutcases.

Someday I would like to see a race here with someone to vote for, instead of revaluating who needs to be kept away from the veto pen the most every four years.

Lets not make anymore presidents out of benchwarmers from this farm team.