Amazon.com Seeks to Block North Carolina Customer Data Request

[The Northerner]

April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. asked a federal court to block a request by North Carolina for customer data, including personal information about residents and what they bought from the online retailer.

The North Carolina Department of Revenue’s request, which is part of an audit of Amazon’s compliance with state sales and use tax laws, would violate the First Amendment rights of its customers, Amazon said in a complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Seattle.

Amazon said it already provided North Carolina with information about what it has sold to state residents and what they paid. North Carolina has threatened contempt proceedings if Amazon doesn’t turn over the names and addresses of each customer in the state who bought something from Amazon, according to the complaint.

A call to the public affairs office at the North Carolina Department of Revenue wasn’t answered after business hours yesterday.

The case is Amazon.com v. Kenneth R. Lay, 10-00664, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington (Seattle).

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/04/19/bloomberg1376-L15MVW1A74E9-1.DTL

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. whoa!!!!

This is important.
States want to collect sales tax on internet sales.
good on Amazon for resisting.

[ejpoeta]

4. they are collecting the taxes already. i know i am charged taxes when i order stuff on amazon.

why they need customer information is beyond me. if amazon already gave them the sales information, what else do they need!

[Statistical]

6. No they don't.

Maybe you bought something from another company (3rd party) listed on Amazon.

Amazon (like all mail order /internet companies) only charges taxes where they have a nexus.

Items sold by Amazon.com LLC, or its subsidiaries, and shipped to destinations in the states of Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, or Washington are subject to tax.

In order to offer you the widest selection and the most convenient shopping experience, Amazon.com has teamed with many other merchants.

...

The following is a partial list of merchants selling items at Amazon.com which may be included in your order, and the states in which they charge sales tax.

* Amazon.com LLC: KS, KY, ND, NY and WA
* Amazon Digital Services, Inc.: KY, ND, NY and WA
* Magazine Express, Inc.: AL and WA
* Synapse Services, Inc.: WA only
* Target.com/ITC: All states other than AK and VT
* Hachette Digital, Inc.: AL, AZ, CO, CT, DC, HI, ID, IN, KY, LA, ME, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NM, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, WA, WI and WY*
* Harper Collins Publishers, LLC: All states other than AK, AL, AZ, DE, HI, MT, NH, NV, OK, OR, SD, VT and WY*
* Simon & Schuster Digital Sales, Inc.: All states other than AK, DE, MT, NH, and OR*
* Macmillan: AZ, CO, CT, DC, HI, IN, KY, ME, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NM, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, WA, WI and WY*

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=help_search_1-1?ie=UTF8&nodeId=468512&qid=1271780789&sr=1-1

Technically in NC (and any state with sales tax) the consumer is suppose to voluntarily pay the tax for out of state purchases. Called use tax. So when you (and me in VA) file you tax return you record $5,000 bought out of state and pay an extra $250.

Nobody (I mean nobody) does this. It is on the books but never enforced (except in large purchases like autos, planes, RV, etc).

I guarantee you that NC wants order records so they can bill NC customers. Budget shortfalls and all that.

[ejpoeta]

7. wow! i just assumed amazon was collecting the taxes. what is funny is that

in NY they have been trying to collect taxes on cigarettes sold on the reservations for years and i figured that NY wouldn't try to collect taxes from Pennsylvania or another neighboring state with no tax on something if a person went there to buy something because it wasn't taxed would they.... well, imagine if nc got away with that!! would we all be getting bills from the state to pay for stuff we bought online!! what a joke. i think the biggest problem as i see it is that people feel they are getting it from all sides. Taxing everything and not seeing much for it. Our roads have all these potholes and need repair.... everything is broken down and they just keep taxing us more. I don't mind paying taxes, but this nickel and dime crap is pissing me off more than anything. I thought it was reasonable to make the distinction that if you have a facility in a state then you collect taxes for residents in that state with the facility. nice and clear cut. but they keep trying to change the rules.

[Statistical]

8. I hear you. It is all a sysmptom of wage stagnation.

The ultra rich. Not just the rich but the upper <1% have siphoned off so much wealth (taxed at very low rate) over last decade that the entire system is broken.

NC desperate scramble for revenue is just a symptom of a larger problem.

Productivity in US gained 27% of last decade. Had wages increase just half that say 13% the financial situation of individual, and govts would be far better. People would have more money, willing to pay more taxes, plus tax base is higher, tax money pays for more city jobs, etc. A virtuous cycle.

[Crabby Appleton]

2. fuck north carolina

[Lance_Boyle]

3. Ken Lay? Another Ken Lay? Working for the NC taxstapo?

Mr. Lay can go fuck himself. NC has no standing to demand anything at all of Amazon, which has no presence in this state.

Truth is, if the Democrats in control here in NC weren't so fucking crooked (pretty much from Bev on down) citizens of this highest-taxed state in the region would be better off and the Treasury wouldn't have to dream up unlikely collection schemes that cause them to make unenforceable demands of internet retailers with no state presence.

Oh, and BTW Mr Lay - how about you fucks quit diddling with Amazon and send me my damned refund already? You're over a month late, and no longer welcome to the interest-free loan.

[Statistical]

5. First Amendment rights? Really.

I mean that is a stretch.