Not to sidetrack this but regarding sales tax: Amazon started collecting sales tax here in Nevada a couple years ago. And as mr Salty mentions, it's only on direct Amazon LLC items. Third party sellers even one with Prime don't have to charge sales tax. Surprisingly I had no problem with it (yep, a tax). Here's why:
The reality is that more and more people are buying online and less locally. (Not to mention the state of retail: at least here, it's disappearing). Since we don't have state income tax and gambling revenue here is only 50% of the casinos income, revenue has to come from somewhere. The so-called internet tax freedom act was introduced in 1998 to kick start the commercial internet and it's still in effect despite congresses continued attempts at repealing it. Some states have exempted the law by demanding sales tax on internet purchases. Even California has stated that all people who purchase anything on the internet in their state must voluntarily pay the sales tax to California each year for every purchase. No one does.
Amazon saw this trend and has slowly been adding sales tax collection in various states depending on what legal battle they'd face fighting proposed new legislation. Since Amazon is the 12 million pound elephant in the room, they're doing what makes sense.
I bring this up just for facts and my own resignation to the sales tax issue here with regards to Amazon. I hope this doesn't turn into an eff the government thread and their taxes (if it does I apologize).
FYI. The real concern is not the collection of sales tax, is that a profit negative juggernaut known as Amazon and Prime is slowly killing the retail space. I try to buy locally but **** if I'm gonna spend the day driving around to find something when I can click and have it in 2 days.
