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Will Woot have to move?

Mar 16, 2011 2:13 PM

I was reading the paper online ("Amazon Pressured on Sales Tax" http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/technology/14amazon.htm), when the following lines caught my eye:

"...last fall, Texas officials sent Amazon a tax bill for $269 million, after determining that the retailer’s Dallas-area warehouse, owned by a subsidiary, qualified as a local address under state tax rules. Amazon had argued for years that without stores and offices in the state, it had no obligation to collect sales tax there. The dispute is to be decided in a coming administrative hearing.

In retaliation for Texas’s move, Amazon said last month that it would close the warehouse next month and cancel plans to build another."

Now that Woot is a subsidiary of Amazon, will Texas claim a tax neuxus based on this relationship? Will Woot have to move? Oh, noes! How will I get my supply of Texas air? Should I stockpile??

heymo heymo

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vote-for21vote-against

This question was already done to death when that article was first announced. Woot /= Amazon. No moving. On the other hand, it would be nice if it didn't CRASH every time I click on something this morning.

I'd find the earlier question, but I have no patience to do so.

shrdlu shrdlu
vote-for5vote-against

server errors!! oh noes!

jsimon926 jsimon926
vote-for12vote-against

@shrdlu: You're right, I totally missed that earlier discussion.

But the NYT article talks about how states (and Texas in particular) are going after the time-honored sales tax dodge of using a subsidiary to own warehouses. As you note, Woot /= Amazon (I prefer !=) but it is a still a subsidiary.

heymo heymo
vote-for11vote-against

@heymo: First, and most important. The /= is time honored, and I've seen a lot of time, so I'm going with it.

Second, Woot was established as a wholly owned subsidiary, and ALREADY pays sales tax in TX. Amazon may or may not be using their warehouses to send out Amazon stuff (but I'm betting against it; Amazon customers wouldn't put up with those kinds of delays ;-}). Still, it affects Woot not at all.

On the other hand, it would be REALLY nice if, just once, there weren't errors. Also, I'm afraid to look at my reputation this morning (but I can see that it's not wonderful, since I can't play in the fields of black).

shrdlu shrdlu
vote-for8vote-against

Glad the server errors aren't just me. I was getting worried. I have to try two or three times to get to a page. I was taking my shiny new black triangle out for a spin before I lose it and it is taking forever to negotiate the site.

ichigodiafuku ichigodiafuku
vote-for6vote-against

@shrdlu: I've got my black triangle back, but I am getting errors, so many errors. It hardly seems worth trying. Something still isn't right. I'm not sure what it is. You should be ranked higher; my hint shouldn't still tell me to vote for Deals. It's hard to try to figure out what's off since we can't navigate around the site.

meyerk0 meyerk0
vote-for5vote-against

If Amazon doesn't have to collect taxes in TX because of w00t, why then does w00t have to collect taxes in NY because of Amazon?

thumperchick thumperchick
vote-for3vote-against

Being from N. Texas, I can confirm that w00t has always collected sales tax on purchases in Texas :(, making this a complete non-issue for w00t. However, you bring up a point which I have wondered about myself which is that if a sub owned warehouse makes Amazon liable for collection of TX taxes, why not a sub owned business such as w00t? I think that $269M bill was only up through 2009 so perhaps the next suit will name the ownership of w00t as the reason.

hlx hlx
vote-for11vote-against

@thumperchick: The long and short of the discussion is tax laws are nuts. (And, perhaps, beyond all mortal ken.) =P

gatzby gatzby

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