Raising revenue
How about a nice new state tax?
How about we move our
$13 million business out of state...
From the Chicago
Herald-News:
Web tax prompts company to move
FatWallet.com is leaving Illinois for Wisconsin after losing business ties with major online retailers since Gov. Quinn signed of the �Amazon.com tax� earlier this month.
The web shopping business, based near Rockford, partners with online retailers like Amazon and Overstock.com, will relocate to Beloit on April 8 after at least a dozen retailers told FatWallet they would cut ties after the law forced online retailers to collect the state�s 6.25 percent sales tax in a way to preserve profits.
The company, which nets about $13 million a year, was expecting to lose $4 million in annual revenue, said Brent Shelton, FatWallet.com spokesman.
The company, which employs 54 people, will look for permanent residency in Beloit after the move. Shelton said the company did not know if it would ever return to Illinois.
�I think there is a little bitterness,� he said. �The way the taxation has gone in Illinois, they are not making it a lucrative choice.�
Before the law, Internet retailers weren�t required to charge sales tax like Target and others with a physical presence in Illinois do. The law forces those online businesses to collect through their relationship with physically based partners, like FatWallet.
Illinois became the fourth state to adopt the law. Amazon.com also cut ties to partners in Rhode Island and North Carolina after those states enacted similar legislation.
Yet another example of the Internet routing around damage. Make it hard in one state, the business will pick up and move to a state without those problems... If I was in my 20's and starting my first business, I would look at places like Texas rather than WA State.
Posted by DaveH at April 2, 2011 5:03 PM