New York Times: Amazon Should Tax Shoppers

Wednesday, Dec. 30 2009 | Author: Noemi

amazon_crave How often do you shop online? I bet that you won’t be able to survive the way you do now without shopping online. And what is the biggest online store on earth today? It might be open to argument, but Amazon definitely ranks at the top. One of the great things about Amazon is that they do not charge intrastate/interstate taxes. Naturally, consumers love this and end up buying more.

If the stand of the New York Times is to be followed, though, everyone might have to pay more than they are paying now. They want Amazon to “spread its wealth” and start charging state taxes. How does it work? Amazon should pay state taxes to New York, and of course the consumers from New York will have to pay for it when they make any purchase – gadgets or otherwise.

What’s wrong with the scenario aside from the fact that we would have to pay more of our hard earned bucks? A writer at TMC News did the legwork for us. He quoted parts of the Constitution that shoots down the idea. The stand of the New York Times is due to the fact that the state is experiencing financial problems due to low tax income. Of course, they had to point the finger at online stores at once. While it might make sense to tax more, doesn’t it make more sense to try and cut spending? That just might solve the problem and make people’s lives much better. I am glad I will not be affected by this idea if it ever becomes a reality, but wouldn’t it suck to pay more taxes when you buy gadgets online?