An Amazon-type sales and use tax bill has been introduced in yet another state. This time, it’s the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Introduced January 21st by Senator Emmett W. Hanger, Jr. (R—Augusta) and backed by the Virginia Retail Federation (the legislative arm of the Retail Alliance and the Retail Merchants Association), the bill (S.B. 660), if enacted into law, is speculated to grab some $36 million of otherwise lost revenues for the Commonwealth within two years.
The bill creates a rebuttable presumption of nexus for Internet sales purposes, in this instance encompassing the language, “whether by a link on an Internet site or otherwise” while carefully defining the term “dealer” to include a broad cast of actors and for transactions in excess of $10,000 in the preceding four quarterly periods.
Such dealer presumed to be soliciting or transacting business in Virginia would, naturally, be required to register for retail sales and use tax purposes.
UPDATE: As of mid-February 2010, S.B. 660 has passed Virginia’s Senate.
Filed under: E-Commerce, Legislation Tagged: | Amazon Tax, Emmett Hanger Jr., Internet sales, Internet sales tax, internet tax, nexus, S.B. 660, Virginia
[...] And Now Virginia Is Seekingan “Amazon Tax” of Its Own, Sales Tax Buzz [...]
My reading of SB 660 indicates that it simply clarifies and makes into law rules that were already in place. As a Virginia internet business owner, I recently completed a month-long email exchange with a senior auditor in the Virginia Department of Taxation for the sole purpose of clarifying the very issues addressed by this bill. The evidence presented to support the decisions on what was taxable came from far-flung sources, many of which were obscure and unrelated to Virginia law.
For years, I was unable to determine what was taxable because the forms in use were written for brick and mortar cash register based businesses. The word “internet” was never mentioned anywhere in the applicable law or tax instructions.
Unfortunately, they now want to audit my business records because I could not file returns due to the lack of information. At least I think they do — I cannot get them to respond to me. I love my state, but they are well-known to be at least 20 years behind everyone else on issues such as this.
I agree with what you wrote and with Tom Kirby’s reading of SB 660 and I’m also a Virginia resident internet business owner.
He wrote: “I love my state, but they are well-known to be at least 20 years behind everyone else on issues such as this.” I agree with this statement too. And I don’t think that Virginia is going to be able to handle it without federal assistance. Maybe some federal legislation to clarify things for simple folk, and business owners to understand.