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Very good! I can start shopping Amazon again with a clear conscience. I say this not as sarcasm but as literal truth. I know many HN'ers disagree that they wer
by impendia 15y ago
Very good! I can start shopping Amazon again with a clear conscience.
I say this not as sarcasm but as literal truth. I know many HN'ers disagree that they were doing anything wrong -- but personally, their behavior turned my stomach and I was avoiding buying anything from them which I could easily get elsewhere.
- tzs 15y agoCouldn't you buy from Amazon and then report the purchase (as required by California law) to the State and pay the tax?
- mpyne 15y agoSure, but doing so is practically harder even than itemizing your taxes. It's not like you can just PayPal the money over right when you make the purchase.
- impendia 15y agoSure. But that doesn't change the fact that Amazon tried to weasel out of charging the same sales tax as every other retailer who sells books in California; that they were going to try and get legally guaranteed special treatment by promoting a state referendum (as other corporations have also done); and that they abruptly screwed over their 10,000 affiliates in the state.
- tzs 15y agoThere are plenty of retailers who sell books to California residents without collecting sales tax. (And the other way around--I, in Washington, have bought books from California retailers who did not collect Washington sales tax).