I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
A bill that would collect taxes on online sales in New Mexico died quickly in this year’s 30-day session, but now Texas is attempting to collect $269 million in unpaid taxes from the online sales giant Amazon. Amazon disputes the claim that it owes any taxes in Texas.
Eric Engleman reported:
According to Amazon, last month the state of Texas issued the company an assessment of $269 million for uncollected sales taxes for a four year period from Dec. 2005 to Dec. 2009. Amazon says the assessment is “without merit” and says it intends to “vigorously defend” itself in the matter.
However, Colorado passed a law that would tax online sales. New York had done so, with a different mechanism in 2008.
The Independent reported earlier this year:
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that firms without a physical presence in a state, such a mail-order businesses, weren’t required to collect sales tax on purchases. That has meant that states can tax online purchases from businesses with a physical presence, say like Wal-Mart. But online retailers that do not have a so-called “nexus” have used that ruling in the past to fight off the imposition of sales tax on their business.
In the Texas case, Amazon owns a warehouse, through a subsidiary company in Texas.
Texas is facing a budget gap that is between $24 billion and $25 billion. The Dallas Morning News says this is proportionally larger than the budget gap that California faced and may result in cuts to education.
The money that Texas would recoup in taxes from Amazon would be a drop in the bucket but with states around the nation facing budget crises it will be a case that many state legislatures are watching intently.
