Asheville City Council member and online business owner Cecil Bothwell is one of six people being represented by the ACLU, which has joined Amazon's suit against the N.C. Dept. of Revenue, according to localtechwire.com.
The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday joined a lawsuit filed by online retail giant Amazon.com against the North Carolina Department of Revenue over customer information.
Amazon filed suit in federal court in Seattle in April to block the department's attempt to get the names and addresses of North Carolina residents who bought or received items from the company since 2003.
According to the lawsuit, Amazon has already provided the Revenue Department with data about the purchases, including product codes that reveal the exact items purchased.
The information the state wants would cover about 50 million purchases, according to the lawsuit.
State revenue officials have called the lawsuit "misleading," saying they never asked the retailer to turn over detailed information that would reveal personal preferences.
Click link to read the rest of the story.Read the full article
The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday joined a lawsuit filed by online retail giant Amazon.com against the North Carolina Department of Revenue over customer information.
Amazon filed suit in federal court in Seattle in April to block the department's attempt to get the names and addresses of North Carolina residents who bought or received items from the company since 2003.
According to the lawsuit, Amazon has already provided the Revenue Department with data about the purchases, including product codes that reveal the exact items purchased.
The information the state wants would cover about 50 million purchases, according to the lawsuit.
State revenue officials have called the lawsuit "misleading," saying they never asked the retailer to turn over detailed information that would reveal personal preferences.
Click link to read the rest of the story.Read the full article
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A slightly more recent technews post:
http://www.techjournalsouth.com/2010/06/aclu-joins-amazon-suit-against-north-carolinas-tax-audit-request/
One paragraph: "The ongoing dispute centers on North Carolina’s attempt to collect taxes on purchases made from Amazon. The state contends that because Amazon had “Associates†in North Carolina, that established “nexus,†or a presence in the state that allows it to collect taxes. Nexus usually requires a firm to have brick and mortar stores or warehouses in a state."
This case should have impacts on many North Carolina-based websites, known as "Affiliates," who link to Amazon and other online sellers and in return receive a portion of any generated sales from the link.
The N.C. Dept. of Revenue has levied an associate tax on N.C.-based websites with such links.
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News of Amazon's suit, which made the news about two months ago: http://www.mountainx.com/blogwire/2010/amazon_sues_north_carolina_for_its_affiliate_sales_tax
By Jeff Fobes
06/24/2010
Charlotte Observer's article is at http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/06/24/1520667/aclu-fights-nc-over-web-shoppers.html
"The American Civil Liberties Union contends that the state's efforts to collect sales taxes from online retailers could lead to government snooping on consumers' online shopping habits. ...
"Jennifer Rudinger, president of the ACLU's N.C. branch, contended the Department of Revenue can assess taxes based on retail sales without knowing what customers bought. That's how the collection of sales and use taxes works in brick-and-mortar stores.
" 'If a store is here, they'd collect the tax,' Rudinger said. 'The Department of Revenue wouldn't even know who the customer is.' "
By Jeff Fobes
06/24/2010
The Dept. of Revenue's side, from the same Charlotte Observer article:
"According to an estimate by the University of Tennessee, North Carolina will lose nearly $162million in sales-tax revenue this year from out-of-state businesses that don't collect the tax on sales to state residents.
"A conventional store collects the tax for the state by charging the customer. But in online transactions with out-of-state retailers, it's the customer's obligation to calculate and pay the tax, and many residents don't follow the law or even know it exists."
By Jeff Fobes
06/24/2010
I guess this is one of the few times I agree with Cecil Bothwell.
By Thunder Pig
06/24/2010
Strange bedfellows, Thunder Pig, strange bedfellows.
By cecibothwell
06/25/2010
Another article, this one in law.com:
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202463019171&ACLU;_Intervenes_in_Amazon_Privacy_Dispute
By Jeff Fobes
06/26/2010