A victory for the internet against state tax collectors

[AHPMB]

As some of you may know, Amazon has been in a protracted legal battle to keep the purchase records of its consumers private and out of the hands of state tax collection officials from North Carolina who would use the data to collect sales taxes.  In other words, state officials would have detailed information on every book, song or movie purchase you made from the site, not to mention that it's a flagrant violation of the Constitution for a state to collect sales taxes on inter-state purchases.  Thankfully the judge in the case sided with the ACLU and Amazon and has ruled against N.C.  It will be interesting to see if this goes to a higher court.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/8510642/

[MrBogosity]

Cool! I wonder if this means us North Carolinians will be able to be Amazon partners again?

[MrBogosity]

Heh, here's a fail quote:

"This case has been twisted into something it is not. The North Carolina Department of Revenue wants to collect the sales tax that is due to the state and nothing more," Beth Stevenson, spokeswoman for the revenue department, said in a statement.

Yes, they want what's "due" to them, from a transaction they had nothing to do with, using a service they had nothing to do with providing, from a business that isn't even located in the state.

If I go and buy something in South Carolina, will the state then demand that record from the SC store so they can then charge me a tax on it?

[Travis Retriever]

"This case has been twisted into something it is not. The North Carolina Department of Revenue wants to collect the sales tax that is due to the state and nothing more," Beth Stevenson, spokeswoman for the revenue department, said in a statement.

She likes like a member of the mob...