E-commerce

At press time, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue issued a regulatory bulletin stipulating that, under current sales tax law, remote retailers that have warehouse facilities or online affiliates in Pennsylvania have nexus in the state.

Big or small, three years old or 100-plus, many independent bookstores reported robust sales for Black Friday weekend, ranging from five to 250 percent over the same period last year.

With the completion last week of IndieCommerce’s pre-holiday upgrades, booksellers have a new set of tools to drive sales between their bricks-and-mortar and online stores and customers have an easier shopping experience.

Both the U.S. Senate’s Marketplace Fairness Act and the House’s Marketplace Equity Act, which would provide states with the authority to require remote sellers to collect and remit sales tax in the state, include small-seller exemptions.

Next week, just in time for Halloween, Sourcebooks’ promo on paranormal romances and Unbridled’s sale on Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius kick in.

ABA announced this week that it is inviting independent association executives and independent business advocacy groups and their members to Washington, D.C., to advocate on behalf of a national sales tax fairness solution.

This week, a coalition of small businesses joined Rep. Jackie Speier and Rep. Steve Womack in Washington, D.C., for the introduction of the Marketplace Equity Act.

Tennessee has become the latest state to negotiate an agreement with Amazon.com that would postpone the date by which the online retailer must collect state sales tax.

According to a study released this week, New Jersey lost $171 million in non-collected sales and use tax on business-to-consumer Internet purchases of goods and services from out-of-state vendors in 2009.

On Friday, September 23, Gov. Jerry Brown signed an amended sales tax fairness bill that was the result of a last-minute deal California lawmakers made with Amazon.com.

On Tuesday, Michigan state representatives Eileen Kowall (R) and Jim Ananich (D) joined with bricks-and-mortar retailers, including Matt Norcross of McLean & Eakin Booksellers, at a press event to introduce the Michigan Main Street Fairness Act.

A new study released this week estimates that over the next five years, the failure of remote, online retailers to collect sales tax will cost the state of Tennessee more than 10,000 jobs and about $3 billion in revenue.

ABA is urging members to contact their senators and governor in support of the Main Street Fairness Act, which was introduced by Sen. Dick Durbin in late July. A template letter that can be adapted and sent is available.

The price that ABA member stores pay each month for their IndieCommerce websites is going down.  This week, ABA announced that the monthly fee for IndieCommerce subscribers would be reduced from $225 per month to $175 per month, beginning October 1.

Late Friday, September 9, California legislators voted overwhelmingly to approve an amended sales tax fairness bill that would provide Amazon.com with a one-year sales tax exemption while increasing the minimum small business exemption to $1 million from $500,000 in annual sales.