YOUR STORE LETTERHEAD
Date
Dear Chamber of Commerce Member:
I am writing to enlist in your help with two issues that are severely affecting our local businesses and community -- 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 our community tens of millions of dollars per year, and as a bookseller and local business owner I am deeply concerned about this outflow of sales tax from our community.
The inequity in sales tax payments hurts states and communities in many ways. 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, and 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 intentionally evading collecting sales tax in its largest market, California, by building a warehouse in Nevada to service this market. While Amazon.com has no physical stores, I would argue that substantial nexus could still be shown by virtue of its Associate Member Program. This includes many e-commerce sites with national locations, such as California Pizza Kitchen and Key Bank, as well as several national magazines and organizations. This is costing states, communities and local businesses a great deal of money -- money that should be used to bolster and support our communities.
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. I realize that in order to require an out-of-state Internet bookseller to pay sales tax, the state must be able to demonstrate that the seller has a physical presence in the taxing state and that there is a substantial nexus between the seller's activities and the state. There is substantial proof that there are very strong connections between Barnes & Noble's and Borders� e-commerce and physical sites, though they may operate 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, and coasters; and plans (from Borders) to put kiosks in all of their stores that link to their website for customers to use within the next several months.
These matters are of grave concern to this store, to independent businesses across the country, and to our communities at large, and I urge you to join our fight for a level playing field in which businesses can compete fairly and equally. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Store Owner
Store Name
