Amazon vs. New York in battle over state sales tax

Amazon, the popular online retail website, has sued the state of New York for making it pay state sales tax for its website.

The state of New York has been trying to make sales tax on goods that are being shipped to the state of New York. According to the New York Times, on Monday, January 12, 2009, a New York state court rejected Amazon's claim that it was unconstitutional to do so. Amazon claims that because it has no physical office within the state of New York, that it is not obliged to pay state sales tax for this particular state. New York begs to differ. It claims that Amazon's affiliates do operate within the state. Overstock has, since then, joined Amazon in appealing to the state and have looked into appealing to the federal court if necessary. Jonathan E. Johnson III, of Overstock.com, fears that other states will follow New York's attempt to tax the site. He states that his company is not interested in becoming tax collectors for states.