Madmallard
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Call it the Amazon and Ebay tax.
To help close a $4.4 billion budget gap, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed an "internet fairness conformity tax" in his executive budget that would require online marketplaces to collect sales tax from third-party sales to New York residents.
The new tax would bring in $75 million this year and $150 million a year for the next three years, according to state budget officials.
It will generate the income through a standard state sales tax of 8.875 percent.
Assembly members Nicole Malliotakis and Ron Castorina recently voiced opposition to the proposal to tax online marketplaces, saying that it would be overly burdensome to New Yorkers.
"We are opposed to looking towards residents for more money," said Malliotakis. "It's always about nickel and diming consumers in our state and now he's looking to extend this through the internet."
Castorina also relayed his frustration, saying "after reviewing this budget proposal, New York should be called the 'tax and spend' state."
Malliotakis argued that language in Cuomo's proposal "oversteps" in its requirement to collect some private information.
Under the proposal, the state's Department of Tax and Finance will collect an individual's last name, last known address, and the total amount of money an individual spent.
"This is an issue of privacy," said Malliotakis. "And we believe it's wrong for the government to be obtaining such a list from these marketplaces and it's a violation of our rights as individuals to not have this big brother aspect of government and intrusion."
The two Island lawmakers also said that a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., may lead to major changes on interstate commerce and online taxation.
"If this proposal were to go forward, depending on what the Supreme Court does, it could potentially open up the state to a floodgate of litigation," Castorina said.
Malliotakis also raised concerns that implementing Cuomo's online tax proposal could discourage Amazon from completing its 855,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Staten Island's West Shore.
The East Shore Republican noted that sales tax will be collected from online marketplaces that have a distribution center in New York and more than $100 million in nationwide sales.
"It could potentially discourage a company like Amazon from coming to New York cause now they have to be a tax consumer for the state," she said. "If they go to Texas or whatever they don't have to do that."
New York wants to tax your Amazon and Ebay spending
To help close a $4.4 billion budget gap, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed an "internet fairness conformity tax" in his executive budget that would require online marketplaces to collect sales tax from third-party sales to New York residents.
The new tax would bring in $75 million this year and $150 million a year for the next three years, according to state budget officials.
It will generate the income through a standard state sales tax of 8.875 percent.
Assembly members Nicole Malliotakis and Ron Castorina recently voiced opposition to the proposal to tax online marketplaces, saying that it would be overly burdensome to New Yorkers.
"We are opposed to looking towards residents for more money," said Malliotakis. "It's always about nickel and diming consumers in our state and now he's looking to extend this through the internet."
Castorina also relayed his frustration, saying "after reviewing this budget proposal, New York should be called the 'tax and spend' state."
Malliotakis argued that language in Cuomo's proposal "oversteps" in its requirement to collect some private information.
Under the proposal, the state's Department of Tax and Finance will collect an individual's last name, last known address, and the total amount of money an individual spent.
"This is an issue of privacy," said Malliotakis. "And we believe it's wrong for the government to be obtaining such a list from these marketplaces and it's a violation of our rights as individuals to not have this big brother aspect of government and intrusion."
The two Island lawmakers also said that a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., may lead to major changes on interstate commerce and online taxation.
"If this proposal were to go forward, depending on what the Supreme Court does, it could potentially open up the state to a floodgate of litigation," Castorina said.
Malliotakis also raised concerns that implementing Cuomo's online tax proposal could discourage Amazon from completing its 855,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Staten Island's West Shore.
The East Shore Republican noted that sales tax will be collected from online marketplaces that have a distribution center in New York and more than $100 million in nationwide sales.
"It could potentially discourage a company like Amazon from coming to New York cause now they have to be a tax consumer for the state," she said. "If they go to Texas or whatever they don't have to do that."
New York wants to tax your Amazon and Ebay spending
