According to the Los Angeles Times, Governor Jerry Brown is “leaning against” a proposed deal to bring an estimated 7,000 Amazon.com jobs to California. The Governor is concerned that a deal would somehow cost the state revenue.

If the Governor truly believes the ‘Amazon Tax’ is going to generate millions in revenue for the state this year, he’s mistaken. Board of Equalization staff have determined that the projected $200 million in revenue will not materialize this year.

As of today we’re not aware of a single online retailer that has registered with BOE to collect sales tax because of AB 28X. According to Board of Equalization staff, the number of out-of-state registrations in July 2011 was actually lower than July 2010.

Additionally, should a referendum qualify for the ballot, the law would be suspended until a vote of the people in June or November of next year. That would mean the ‘Amazon Tax’ would be a guaranteed money loser this fiscal year, since terminated affiliates will pay significantly less income tax.

The priority must be jobs: either we lose thousands of jobs by keeping the current law, or we gain thousands of jobs by encouraging online retailers like Amazon to invest in our state. If the Governor wants real and lasting budget revenue, he needs to grow jobs.

Tags: Amazon, Amazon Tax, Board of Equalization, BOE, budget, businesses, California, deal, Internet tax, Jerry Brown, job creation, jobs, Legislature, referendum, revenue

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 1st, 2011 at 5:02 pm and is filed under Blog Posts.