Some Silicon Valley Businesses Call On Amazon To End Sales Tax Fight
PALO ALTO (KCBS) – Some small business owners in Silicon Valley are calling on Amazon and other online retailers to end their campaign against California's new sales tax law.
The new law requires that online retailers collect taxes on items sold.
Clark Kepler, who owns Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, said it's all about leveling the playing field for small businesses.
KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:
"What we really want is for the state of California to go ahead with the bill that would require Amazon and other online retailers to collect sales tax within the state," Kepler said. "We are encouraging Amazon to drop its referendum efforts."
Palo Alto Bicycles store manager Jeff Selzer said it's all a question of fairness.
"It's not fair that an online entity gets an automatic 8-10 percent discount," he said. "We're taking a lot of dollars that could be kept in a local community. Because of the way the law is structured, we're almost incentivizing people to take those dollars and send them four states or a country or two away."
Amazon.com said it launched the referendum campaign because the new state law has the potential of killing jobs.
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