Online Retailers of All Types and Sizes Beware…You May Have a State Sales Tax Collection and Reporting Requirement for Online Sales to Certain States Such as New York!

If things were not already difficult for online as well as regular brick-and-mortar retailers this holiday season, online shopping will become more costly this holiday season due to new laws in New York, Rhode Island and North Carolina which will force these retailers to collect state sales taxes for the first time on purchases from internet retailers!

This is a direct reaction by many of these states that are already experiencing significant declines in tax revenues – to seek out new possible sources of tax revenues.  Internet sales are now becoming the “new frontier” for many states to consider what are being called “Amazon Laws” which require many online retailers to collect sales taxes even if they are based in another state and do not have a physical sales office in that state (which is the historical requirement that would make a company liable to collect sales tax in a state once they located a sales office or sales personal physically in a state.)  

This means that, until recently, if you lived in New York, and ordered something from a company located in Ohio, the company did not need to collect sales tax. 

A recent court case lost by Amazon.com in New York held up a law requiring the collection, remittance and reporting of New York State Sales Tax by Amazon for online sales made in that state Even though the company did not have a physical office in that state, merely since the company had over $10,000 in sales per year to residents of New York – even if these sales were made online!

Read the full story online in the Parade.com publication: http://www.parade.com/news/intelligence-report/archive/091018-states-push-for-online-sales-taxes.html