Friday, April 27, 2012

Texas Comptroller & Amazon.com Agreement brings 2500 jobs & Millions in Investments to TX

Not long ago it was discovered that Amazon was operating a facility in Texas without paying sales tax. This of course was a problem because everyone else in Texas pays sales tax, including the small local bookstores. A little over a year later, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs has announced an agreement with Amazon that settles the tax dispute and will bring 2,500 new jobs to Texas and $200 million in capital investments. This is great news for the Texas economy. This is also great news for Amazon.com because Texas is very business friendly and Amazon will enjoy a great environment in which to do business. Texas has fared much better than other states in this economic downturn and many companies are moving to Texas to enjoy the business friendly environment.

Susan Combs and Amazon also went a step further by calling on Congress to make a more simplified and more equitable framework that protects states' rights.

Press Release from Texas Comptroller Susan Combs Regarding Amazon Agreement:

Online Retailer and Texas Leadership Call for Federal Action on Sales Tax

(AUSTIN, TX and SEATTLE, WA) — Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Susan Combs and Amazon.com, Inc. today announced an agreement that will lead to the creation of thousands of new jobs in Texas by the online retailer.

According to the agreement between the Comptroller of Public Accounts and Amazon, the Company plans over the next four years to create at least 2,500 jobs and make at least $200 million in capital investments in the state and will begin to collect and remit Texas sales tax on July 1, 2012. The agreement resolves all sales tax issues between Texas and Amazon.

“We thank Amazon for partnering with us to find a solution that works for our state,” said Combs. “This is an important step in leveling the playing field in Texas; however, Congress should enact federal legislation that will give states access to revenues that are already due, which would resolve this issue fairly for all retailers and all states.”

“Amazon looks forward to creating thousands of new jobs in Texas and we appreciate Comptroller Combs working with us to advance federal legislation,” said Amazon Vice President of Global Public Policy Paul Misener. “We strongly support the creation of a simplified and equitable federal framework, because Congressional action will protect states’ rights, level the playing field for all sellers, and give states like Texas the ability to obtain all the sales tax revenue that is already due.”

About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial.

Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes – still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G.

Kindle Fire is the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games and web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon’s new revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core processor.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, and www.amazon.es. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

4 comments:

  1. So I will not have to start paying more taxes on my Amazon.com purchases and this is supposed to be a good conservative outcome?

    How is requiring me to send more money to the state conservative?

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  2. So much for Amazon - this is the second taxing nonsense imposed on non-brick and mortar, even non-Texas based businesses in a year that negatively impac Texas Residents. Have you tried to buy Wine from our of state lately?

    This is NOT conservativism and not what we elected you RINOs to do.

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  3. To play the devil's advocate, Texas is very friendly to businesses and has not income tax. We do have a sales tax and the mom and pop book stores all have to pay sales tax on books they sell in Texas. It was established in law and in the supreme court that if you are a business in Texas and sell anything to people in Texas then you have to pay the sales tax. The comptroller just enforced the law. I honestly have not looked into this law so you might very well be right that this law is flawed and should be changed. I will not argue against you on that and would love to hear the arguments against the law because I honestly have not looked into it. this post was about the settlement and I did not go into any detail about the law itself and whether or not it should be changed

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  4. Good post David.
    Just as we council folks to "talk less and say more " I council folks to vote for Ultra conservative candidates so we can have "fewer laws and less lawlessness"

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