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According to a news article on cleveland.com, starting Monday June 1st, Amazon began collecting sales tax from Ohio consumers.
Ohio retailers and retail associations have spent years trying to persuade Congress to pass laws requiring online retailers to collect and remit the same state sales taxes that brick-and-mortar stores are required to.
"What great news for Ohio," said Gordon Gough, president and chief executive of the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, which represents more than 6,400 members. His group is applauding the fact that not only is Amazon making a substantial commitment to the state by creating 1,000 jobs here, but "they're going to come to Ohio and play by the same rules as all the other retailers."
According to Gough "Ohio will become the 25th state where the online retailer collects sales tax." The article goes on to say that "In exchange, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority gave Amazon an exemption on sales taxes for equipment purchases at the data centers and a payroll tax credit for new jobs, according to Bloomberg News. The incentives are valued at about $81 million over 15 years."
Original Submission
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Monday June 08 2015, @03:35AM
I grew up long before Wal-Mart came along. I know first hand that it was difficult to find things sometimes. But, I NEVER resented paying the prices necessary to get the goodies I needed. It was part of business. Yeah, I KNEW that the guy a couple states away knew of a place where he could buy the same goodies at near wholesale prices, but I wasn't a couple states away. Nor did I have direct access to the suppliers. Not for groceries, not for hardware, not for gadgets, not for anything. But - all the rest of the country was in the same position that I was. Unless you maintained your own Rolodex filled with contacts, you shopped locally, and you paid the markup that kept Mom and Pop in business.
On the up side - you could see, touch, feel, and otherwise evaluate the item you were purchasing before you bought it. Mom and Pop didn't generally offer cheap Chinese shit for sale, because they knew you wouldn't come back.
No, Walmart did us no favors. Walmart can die a horrible death, and each of it's owners can do the same, and I won't miss them one bit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 08 2015, @11:39AM
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday June 08 2015, @01:49PM
Spoken like a fool. Cheap shit is cheap shit, and it's never worth paying hard earned cash for it. Never. Better to pay the extra dollar or ten for quality, and when you no longer need that quality item, you still have something to barter for the things that you DO need. Cheap Chinese shit does nothing better than to fill landfills.
The last generation has failed this generation by failing to teach what quality is.
(Score: 1) by Oakenshield on Monday June 08 2015, @01:36PM
I grew up pre-WalMart as well. I never understood the hate. It's just a retail store. If you don't like it, don't shop there. It seems it like it's the whole SUV debate again. The haters don't want to avoid WalMart, they want to stop others shopping there.
Your statement is a logical fallacy. If it were fact, WalMart could have never survived or thrived offering (presumably) "Chinese shit." Although, I seem to recall that back in the 70s we used to call it cheap Japanese shit and in the 80s, cheap Taiwanese shit. And it was available in your mom-and-pop stores.
You will be pleased to note that WalMart seems to be dying an organic death. Their arguably single greatest advantage was unsurpassed inventory control systems. WalMart now frequently has holes on their shelves. Their employees are staggeringly apathetic toward the customer and they do not appear to have the massive pricing advantage over the competition anymore. Their new store growth has subsided. Existing stores are terribly understaffed. You can rest easy now.