[isellstuff]

In response to the Texas request for back sales taxes, Amazon has announced the closure of their Texas Distribution Center.

Amazon.com shutting Irving office over tax dispute | Dallas-Fort Worth Business News - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News


I'm afraid that this will be the event that drags Texas Affiliates into the fray. Let's put it this way... Today my wife is researching moving a business to New Hampshire while retaining the EIN#. We want to keep our EIN to retain our business credit history.

BTW, we really would move, put the house on the market and go. I did a scouting trip last year to Southern New Hampshire, but in the end we decided to build a new house in Austin.... We moved into it in August...

Hopefully, it won't come to that.

[gcarson]

Unreal. All this does is get less revenues for the states. Companies move. Citizens move. They don't say.. great, more taxes. I'll think I'll relocate there. Either all states charge the taxes or none. That's the only way.

Or... maybe this is the answer?

Perpetual traveler - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[John Powell]

Good to see the link. I had seen a blurb scroll across the TV as I was munching my daily gruel. Really is distressing to see all the government caused mess going on over the last few years. Hopefully we will see a unified policy develop that will stop the states battling each other for revenue.

[Rexanne]

Originally Posted by John Powell

Hopefully we will see a unified policy develop that will stop the states battling each other for revenue.

I'm starting to think this is the only way to stop the madness. The consumer is not going to claim their purchases from out of state, just not gonna happen so to stop individual states and left-behind B&M businesses from crying over how much the Internet is costing them, there will have to be a general Internet tax on purchases. Maybe by figuring all states tax percentages and coming up with a rounded figure. Would make any state not collecting stupidly high tax happy and everyone would get their piece of the pie, even if they don't deserve it.

I actually think we need a tax revolt because taxing citizens has become so corrupt. I'm sure the majority of US citizens would agree that a general Internet tax would be acceptable and then merchants won't have to go through the trials of various state tax compliance. The states need to work with the feds on this one.

[AffiliateHound]

As discussed in earlier threads, the idea of a national internet sales tax is great, but Congress may or may not have the power to add such a tax (It may require a Constitutional amendment), and even if such a tax were legally imposed, it would be an additional tax and would not and could not replace the right of individual states to impose their own tax (even if just on in-state merchants) unless all 50 states agreed that it would do so.

Also, isellstuff - an EIN is not related to your state of residence. Think of it just as you would your social security number.

[AffiliateHound]

A major obstacle of getting consent from all 50 states to a national sales tax is the rate. Most stales have sales tax rates of around 5% and the public and politicians in those states would be up in arms to see a national internet sales tax rate of maybe double that. California politicians, on the other hand, would be loath to agree to a rate of 5, 6, 7% or so, when the rates in CA vary from about 8.75% to the 9.75% in LA County. And of course, there are some states that do not impose a sales tax.

Plus the national rate would have to be high enough for the federal government to get its share - if only to pay for the costs of administering the program - over and above what the states will receive.

[Rexanne]

Thanks for your insight and clarity Hound.

This entire issue is really annoying, considering catalog sales (pre-Internet) were never blasted with this B.S. It's only because the Internet WORKS so well that these states are coming after our livelihoods to drag as much as possible from the people to fund their fiscal incompetence. The Internet is a GLOBAL playground and should not be assumed a revenue source for any single state or country. A national Internet tax is really the only way to work this out, IMO and I still don't like it but if it's going to come down to taxing Internet purchases, it's the only rational way to keep it from evolving into a crazy mess.

Say what you will about Arnold, but when he laughed in the face of the first CA Internet tax proposal, I became a fan.

[isellstuff]

Originally Posted by AffiliateHound

Also, isellstuff - an EIN is not related to your state of residence. Think of it just as you would your social security number.

There are a variety of ways to relocate a LLC or Corporation to a new state. The easiest way is to just dissolve the business in one state and form a new one. I did this when I moved from Washington State to Texas. When you take this approach, you are forced to get a new EIN and you will reset your credit history.

Probably the way I will try next will be to create a new LLC and merge my existing LLC into it. This WILL allow you to keep the existing EIN and your credit history.

Some more info, (Moving an LLC section at bottom of page)
How to Move Your LLC or Corporation to Another State

[AffiliateHound]

Originally Posted by isellstuff

There are a variety of ways to relocate a LLC or Corporation to a new state. The easiest way is to just dissolve the business in one state and form a new one. I did this when I moved from Washington State to Texas. When you take this approach, you are forced to get a new EIN and you will reset your credit history.

Probably the way I will try next will be to create a new LLC and merge my existing LLC into it. This WILL allow you to keep the existing EIN and your credit history.

Some more info, (Moving an LLC section at bottom of page)
How to Move Your LLC or Corporation to Another State

Sorry, was not considering corporations, only individual/dbas.

[davidh]

Southern New Hampshire

NH is a nice place to live. The cost of living would certainly be a bit higher than it is in TX, but the only real drawback to living there is that the winter gets a little bit nasty, but certainly not as nasty as the desert heat in TX in summer.

[isellstuff]

Originally Posted by davidh

NH is a nice place to live.

We stayed in Portsmouth and branched out via day trips for about a week, checking out the different small towns. We built a list of towns based on how good the elementary schools were and how well the town could support our biz (e.g. fiber internet).

My family really liked NH, but I'm afraid we chickened out and went for the familiar, primarily because of the higher cost of living. Houses are a bit more expensive, although they do appear to come with acreage in many cases.

[Shawn Collins]

Looks like Gov. Perry is going to work with legislators to make it so Amazon stays.

Rick Perry: Amazon decision wasn't the right one | J.P. Freire | Beltway Confidential | Washington Examiner

[superCool]

Rick Perry: "You couldn't go in and buy anything out of that store, and that, historically, has been the way we defined whether you pay taxes or not -- if you had a storefront. This obviously didn't have a store front. It was specifically there to manage products that need to be shipped out."

that's nexus in Texas? Awesome!

[isellstuff]

Originally Posted by superCool

that's nexus in Texas? Awesome!

Agreed, that was an awesome article link Shawn. I hope the legislature puts something together. Governor Perry has made it a point to reach out to CEO's in other states when their state is trying to pass unfriendly business legislation. His message is always, "Come to Texas, we love business". When something like the Amazon distribution center pullout happens, it makes everyone scratch their head and go, "Texas Loves Business.... Really???". Perry doesn't like this mixed message as it causes problems with his new business recruitment efforts.

[isellstuff]

Crap, was reading more about Governor Perry's remarks and found that Affiliate Nexus Legislation was introduced yesterday in Texas:

Austin news, sports, weather, Longhorns, business | Statesman.com

[Eric Ewe]

Fulfillment/Delivery - Amazon hires for 14 fulfillment centers around the U.S. - Internet Retailer

Apparently Amazon is hiring for the Distribution Centers.. Guess who is not on the list - wait, TX lost that center.

"Amazon says it is hiring for fulfillment centers in the following locations: Phoenix and Goodyear, AZ; Coffeyville, KS; New Castle, DE; Fernley and Las Vegas, NV; Lexington, Campbellsville, Hebron and Louisville, KY; and Hazleton, Carlisle, Allentown and Lewisberry, PA."