Trump's plan to tax Amazon

[Senator-elect Spark]

Won't this hurt consumers?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

In the last 3 years, more jobs were eliminated in brick and mortar retail than ever existed in the coal industry.

Even Wal-Mart is aggressively closing stores proactively where and moving towards more and more online business. 

Right now, Amazon is essentially being subsidized by the gov't because it doesn't pay sales tax while brick and mortar does. This is not the free market at work at this level, this the gov't picking a winner, and a winner that is very detrimental to jobs.

[Beet]

I don't like Amazon. But this is a conflict of interest because Trump's trying to retaliate by shutting down critical coverage in the Post. Illegal interference in the First Amendment.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I don't like Amazon. But this is a conflict of interest because Trump's trying to retaliate by shutting down critical coverage in the Post. Illegal interference in the First Amendment.

We have to ask a question though here, should a company like that receiving preferential treatment from government policy, control a newspaper.

The newspaper just has to attack the sitting President and suddenly it is a conflict of interest for the President to act against the company in any way, even if it is good policy to do so.

That is corporatism at its finest.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The sales tax thing is largely old news. Amazon is collecting sales tax itself, tho it is declining to do so for third-party sellers. It's even collecting local sales tax in some states and I know first-hand how much effort that takes. (It would help if zip codes could be used to determine tax jurisdictions, but they can't, not even at the county level.)

[Ban my account ffs!]

The sales tax thing is largely old news. Amazon is collecting sales tax itself, tho it is declining to do so for third-party sellers. It's even collecting local sales tax in some states and I know first-hand how much effort that takes. (It would help if zip codes could be used to determine tax jurisdictions, but they can't, not even at the county level.)

Yeah I remember having to specify (in city) or (outside of city) when ordering from Amazon.

Amazon isn't being "subsidized" by the government.  It is being "subsidized" by convenience.  They don't just sell everything... they sell it in 14 colors and 3 styles.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Why is Trump claiming the post office subsidizes Amazon?  Is he saying postal rates are too low to recoup expenses?

[MasterJedi]

Why is Trump claiming the post office subsidizes Amazon?  Is he saying postal rates are too low to recoup expenses?

That's what he's saying, Amazon does get a bulk discount. No idea what it is though.

[parochial boy]

The problem with amazon isn't just not paying sales tax. It's not paying tax at all, as well as its exploitation of its workforce and its role in driving the casualisation of labour (eg bogus self employed couriers). All of which are made much easier by its business model of outsourcing huge swathes of its operations to third parties

[pbrower2a]

Brick and mortar stores used to work because of impulse purchases possible when one has an incredible number of choices. One might have chosen to not purchase something because one didn't want to buy it that day, but it would be around for another impulse purchase.  That is over. A company like Wal-Mart wants to get rid of its one-of-a-kind items in stores, as rack space is precious.  So it was with such things as recorded music, books, hobby crafts, greeting cards, and hi-fi equipment.  With an adequate mark-up, a store could keep those items on the shelf for a considerable time. But the independent card, book, music, and hi-fi stores are dying as entities like Wal-Mart that operate under the assumption that 'if only a few people want something, then nobody gets it'.

Amazon fills the gap that many now-defunct mom-and-pop outlets, and even such former big chains as Tower Records used to fill. But let us also remember: Amazon sells lots of books critical of  the President and the GOP.  Under an anti-intellectual regime such as the Trump Presidency, reading anything outside the safe realm of romance and adventure novels or paeans to  Trump and his allies is subversive. 

[#gravelgang #lessiglad]

Why is Trump claiming the post office subsidizes Amazon?  Is he saying postal rates are too low to recoup expenses?

Doubt it. Package delivery is one of the few profitable operating units of the USPS and Amazon is that unit's largest customer.

[Sadader]

In the last 3 years, more jobs were eliminated in brick and mortar retail than ever existed in the coal industry.

Even Wal-Mart is aggressively closing stores proactively where and moving towards more and more online business. 

Right now, Amazon is essentially being subsidized by the gov't because it doesn't pay sales tax while brick and mortar does. This is not the free market at work at this level, this the gov't picking a winner, and a winner that is very detrimental to jobs.

wat? Amazon does what any business would do in its situation. Going after Amazon is the govt picking a winner, and it’s yet another piece of evidence that Trump hates the free market. Creative destruction is irrelvant to that point, and is a great thing.

[Unapologetic Chinaperson]

Their profitability is already damaged by the notion of free shipping but an extra tax is totally unnecessary and the government doesn't need to interfere in the free market.

From what I hear, Amazon's retail business is largely a money-loser. The real money is in Amazon Web Services.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Their profitability is already damaged by the notion of free shipping but an extra tax is totally unnecessary and the government doesn't need to interfere in the free market.

From what I hear, Amazon's retail business is largely a money-loser. The real money is in Amazon Web Services.

You need better ears then.  While AWS is the most profitable part of the business, it's also capital intensive, so the profit isn't nearly so outstanding as it would appear if you only look at sales.  North American retail is profitable, but the International retail segment is currently a money loser, but that's in large part because it's still expanding into new territories.

[Sadader]

In the last 3 years, more jobs were eliminated in brick and mortar retail than ever existed in the coal industry.

Even Wal-Mart is aggressively closing stores proactively where and moving towards more and more online business. 

Right now, Amazon is essentially being subsidized by the gov't because it doesn't pay sales tax while brick and mortar does. This is not the free market at work at this level, this the gov't picking a winner, and a winner that is very detrimental to jobs.

wat? Amazon does what any business would do in its situation. Going after Amazon is the govt picking a winner, and it’s yet another piece of evidence that Trump hates the free market. Creative destruction is irrelvant to that point, and is a great thing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-personally-pushed-postmaster-general-to-double-rates-on-amazon-other-firms/2018/05/18/2b6438d2-5931-11e8-858f-12becb4d6067_story.html

my point is verified, conservatives should hate Trump; “he’s a socialistic bitch”