James Delahunty
3 Dec 2011 11:00
Amazon seeking federal standard for sales tax collection by states.
Speaking at a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Amazon.com's vice president for global public policy called on lawmakers to give a federal answer to the questions surrounding the collection of sales taxes by individual states from online retailers.
Paul Misener said exemptions to the tax should be kept "very low" for fairness reasons. Amazon has battled many attempted by individual states to task it, and other online retailers, with the collection of sales taxes. The U.S. supreme court ruled in 1992 that businesses without a physical presence in a particular state, are exempted from collecting sales taxes for that state.
That has given online retailers, such as Amazon, a huge advantage over brick and mortar retailers. "Online retailers have, let's face it, an unfair advantage," said John Conyers, U.S. Representative for Michigan's 14th congressional district.
Republicans question a federal standard for the collection of sales taxes by individual states, likening it to a tax hike. Democrats, for the most part, disagree. "This is not a new tax we're collecting," John Otto, an accountant and state representative from Texas, said. "It's a tax we've been unable to collect."