YOUR STORE
LETTERHEAD
Date
Dear Editor:
I am writing as a local bookseller and proud member of my community about two issues that are of deep concern to me -- the moratorium that Congress has placed on new Internet taxation, and the failure to collect taxes from e-commerce sites which under current laws should be paying them and are not. This is costing local communities tens of millions of dollars per year, and this letter is a call to arms to all among us who wish to protect and preserve our neighborhoods and communities.
By not paying sales tax, e-commerce companies can compete unfairly against community-based businesses. Consequently, more shoppers are driven online because of the unfair price advantage; stores lose business, reducing their payments of sales tax and resulting in major losses for the stores and their communities.
Amazon.com has had a dramatic and negative effect on independent, bricks and mortar bookstores. It is heavily subsidized by the stock market, which has permitted it to discount heavily and suffer huge losses in order to beat competition. Amazon.com is being helped to compete unfairly against local businesses because it is not forced to collect sales tax in most states. Amazon.com is evading collecting sales tax in its largest market, California, by building a warehouse in Nevada to service this market. While Amazon has no physical stores, I would argue that substantial nexus could still be shown by virtue of its Associate Member Program.
This is not only damaging but may very well be illegal when it involves e-commerce sites affiliated with bookstore chains, such as barnesandnoble.com and Borders.com. There is substantial proof that there are very strong connections between Barnes & Noble's and Borders' e-commerce and physical sites, though they may be operated as separate corporations. These activities include, but are not limited to: accepting returns at the physical store for a .com purchase; advertising their e-commerce sites in the store on banners, posters, bookmarks, brochures, sales receipts, etc. Borders even plans to put kiosks in all of their stores that link to their website for customers to use within the next several months.
If this issue is not addressed, the neighborhoods and Main Streets that we all love so dearly may become a thing of the past, and I urge every citizen of this community to join this fight to protect the neighborhoods that we have worked so hard to build.
Thank you,
Store Owner
Store Name
