What exactly just happened in New York state?
On Wednesday, April 9, the New York State Legislature passed a final budget that includes the Internet Sales Tax provision. This means that out-of-state retailers such as Amazon.com now will be required to comply with New York State sales tax laws and collect and remit sales tax on sales to state residents. This constitutes not only a significant victory for independent retailers in New York state, who will now be on a level playing field with online retailers, but for New York state itself, which will see the return of $50 million in lost tax revenue to the state’s budget. Moreover, the passage of the Internet Sales Tax provision establishes a precedent for other states to follow.
