Thousands of companies offering their products on Amazon.com received the email below from Amazon today.
Amazon will not collect and remit taxes to the state of California for sales on their “marketplace” platform, even though by California’s own laws Amazon is the retailer who should bear this responsibility. Under Amazon’s marketplace system, Amazon controls the customer experience, the transfer of goods (for “Fulfillment by Amazon”), and the collection and remittance of funds. They do not allow 3rd parties to limit which customers they serve – it must be all 50 states, including California.
Yet rather than collect 100% of potential revenue from a single powerful company, California is taking the approach of collecting a much smaller percentage of revenue in a much less efficient way by approaching almost a million small businesses who offer their products on Amazon’s platform, asking them to take on a tax compliance obligation that Amazon themselves are reluctant to.
The Online Merchant Guild’s mission is to defend small businesses from misapplications of existing state law, violations of due process, and collaboration between large corporate and government interests to place burdens on those least able to bear them. We believe small businesses have a strong legal case in these matters, and will be bringing that case to court in the coming weeks.
We need your help and your voice to insure the right outcome for America’s small businesses. Please join us.
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From: Amazon Services<seller-info@amazon.com>
Date: Tue, Oct 23, 2018 at 1:53 PM
Subject: Disclosure to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration
Amazon has received a valid and binding legal demand from the California
Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) requiring that Amazon
disclose the following information about your business in 2017:
• Contact information (name, address, and email)
• US Taxpayer Identification Number
To comply with our obligations under the law, we plan to provide this information
to the CDTFA by November 6, 2018. In many cases, sellers who register and file taxes
in California already provide information on their Amazon business as part of their
tax filings.
Because each seller’s business and tax needs are unique, we encourage you to consult
with a tax advisor to answer any questions you may have.You also may refer to the
following resources in Seller Central:
• Solution Provider Network, a directory with information about several
tax advisors: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/G201687890
• Tax calculation services, optional services for calculating U.S. sales
and use taxes: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/G200787660
Thank you for selling on Amazon,
Amazon Services