E-commerce

The August 24 edition of the IndieCommunication newsletter provides information on recent work to stabilize the IndieCommerce platform, the launch of new features, upcoming training videos and webinars, and changes to the store location display and to security.

Mary Rasenberger, executive director of the Authors Guild, discusses the organization’s support for the Authors United appeal to the Department of Justice to investigate Amazon’s “abuse of its dominance in the world of books.”

This August, TJ Rayhill, a 19-year-old college student, will open Dog-Eared Books in Campbellsville, Kentucky. The used bookstore also sells new books online and offers an online college textbook rental service.

On Monday, June 15, Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Steve Womack (R-AR) joined with a bipartisan group of legislators to introduce the Remote Transactions Parity Act, a bill that gives states the authority to require remote sellers doing $10 million or more in gross annual receipts to collect and remit sales tax to the states.

On June 8, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act, a bill that would both permanently prohibit states from taxing access to the Internet and prohibit taxes on bandwidth and e-mail, according to media reports. 

Amazon began collecting sales tax on purchases made by Ohio residents on Monday, June 1; however, the decision to collect is part of deal to build data centers in the state that includes millions in tax subsidies, as well as land and tax deals.

Award winners: Firecracker Awards, Horn Book Awards; BISG names new executive director; Amazon changes revenue reporting in several EU countries; WNDB partners with YA Runs a 5K

ABA is urging booksellers to follow up a letter sent by B&N CEO Michael P. Huseby and ABA CEO Oren Teicher to Ohio Gov. John Kasich with their own letters calling for an e-fairness solution in the state.

This week, ABA CEO Oren Teicher and B&N CEO Michael P. Huseby sent a letter to Ohio Gov. John Kasich calling for a state sales tax fairness solution.

With the outlook on federal sales tax fairness unclear, a Washington State lawmaker has introduced legislation that he believes could lead the U.S. Supreme Court to re-evaluate nexus in states.

On March 12, the Federal Communications Commission released 400 pages of net neutrality rules, in which the commission reclassified broadband Internet service as a public utility, subject to Title II regulation.

On Tuesday, a group of U.S. senators reintroduced the Marketplace Fairness Act, a bill that would level the playing field for Main Street retailers.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that sent a challenge to a Colorado use tax law back to federal court has sparked hope among proponents of e-fairness.

Amazon will begin collecting and remitting sales tax in Illinois beginning February 1 as part of a deal the online retailer struck with state officials in October 2014.

U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) has circulated draft sales tax fairness legislation that would ask most states to radically change their sales tax systems, according to media reports.