In the furor over Colorado’s “Amazon tax,” senators might have stumbled on the Holy Grail of state governments: a legal way to tax the Internet. It began Feb. 4 during a late-night hearing for the Amazon bill, formally known as House Bill 1193, The Durango Herald reports. Dozens of local partners of Amazon.com and other Web retailers arrived to protest because similar bills in other states had led to the mass firings of people like them. A Republican senator, Greg Brophy, convinced Democrats to rewrite the bill, and what emerged four days later made Amazon and tax officials across the country snap to attention.

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Monday, Luke Knowles, CEO of Kinoli Inc., a Fort Collins-based interactive design and development Web site that has thousands of affiliates, received an e-mail from Amazon indicating it would no longer pay him advertising fees because of a new state law aimed at collecting sales tax on online purchases. The loss of Amazon, one of his top grossing merchants, will hurt his bottom line as other affiliates who rely on Amazon also are cutting ties with his company, Knowles said. The end result is that he is strongly considering moving the company to Montana because it does not have a general sales tax, The Fort Collins Coloradoan reports.

In other coverage:

The Denver Post: The political battle over taxing online sales made through retailers such as Amazon.com intensified Tuesday, with Democrats saying the state should not back down from trying to collect money it’s owed and Republicans arguing the new law should be repealed. The hardened stances came a day after Amazon said it would end its relationships with thousands of online affiliates in Colorado who send business its way through blogs and niche websites and then earn commissions on each sale.

Denver Post Columnist Mike Littwin: I don’t like to say that Amazon is evil, because I’m not in the corporations-are-people legal camp. But it turns out that Amazon is evil. And now that Amazon has fired all its Colorado affiliates — mostly mom-and-pop outfits, and who can resist an outfit with a mom or a pop? — I find I have no choice. In a sales-tax war between Amazon and the Colorado legislature, Amazon has dropped the big one on the innocent affiliates, who have done absolutely nothing wrong except get caught in the crossfire.

The Pueblo Chieftain: Sandra Dykes was as surprised as anyone when Amazon.com on Monday dropped its Colorado retail affiliates. The Pueblo woman’s Classic Cinema Online retail site included a link to Amazon, which cut ties to Colorado affiliates over the state’s broader online sales tax rules. “They were a place where I had my visitors get films and DVDs,” Dykes said of the link that netted her a small fee from Amazon for each customer purchase and movie rental.

Associated Press: The liberal group ProgressNow wants Coloradans to boycott Amazon.com over the retailer’s decision to cut ties with online affiliates in the state. The boycott call came Tuesday, a day after Amazon broke with Colorado bloggers and Web site operators who help it sell products. Amazon blamed the state’s new online tax law for its decision. It requires out-of-state, online retailers to collect taxes or tell customers how much they owe the state each year.

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STATE BILL COLORADO
Over the weekend, Amazon e-mailed Colorado affiliates telling them they were being dropped from their commission-driven relationships with the online reseller as a result of passage of HB10-1193. Here’s how local and national media covered the story.

The Denver Post: Amazon.com told many of its Colorado online business affiliates Monday that it would sever its business relationship with them, a move that could slice into the revenues of thousands of Web retailers.
The company blamed state lawmakers for enacting a law requiring it to notify those who purchase Amazon merchandise through a local website that they owe state sales taxes. Lawmakers in turn criticized Amazon’s move as a hostage-taking gambit to force reversal of the measure.

State Bill Colorado: Scores of Twitterers weighed in this morning on Amazon’s decision to fire its Colorado-based associates because of the state’s passage of HB10-1193. Reaction, predictably, was negative, with posters complaining specifically about Colorado’s governor and state legislators who backed the bill.

The Wall Street Journal: Amazon.com Inc. pulled the plug on its marketing affiliates in Colorado after the state imposed new sales-tax regulations on online retailers.

The Colorado Independent: Enormous online retailer Amazon.com reacted to news that it would now be required to voluntarily report Colorado state sales taxes by canceling its relationship with affiliate web sites here– that is, with sites that earn a small fee for each websurfer they send to Amazon through links and ads. In a letter sent over the weekend to its Colorado affiliates, Amazon announced it will continue to do business with residents in Colorado and didn’t elaborate on how canceling the affiliate relationships balances against the new tax. The mystery has led analysts and lawmakers to speculate that the move was done strictly to send a political message. Others suggest the move is part of a larger corporate legal strategy to combat laws already on the books in Colorado, Rhode Island and North Carolina, as well as any future state sales tax laws that might pass around the country.

The Durango Herald: Amazon.com fired hundreds of Coloradans who market the Web site Monday and said it would not go along with a new state law on Internet taxes. The action surprised people who run stay-at-home marketing businesses, angered Democrats and brought calls of “I told you so” from Republicans. Amazon fired its Colorado affiliates in an e-mail sent shortly after 1 a.m. Mountain time Monday. Last month, Gov. Bill Ritter signed a bill that seeks to collect taxes from sales made on Amazon and other big Internet sites.

Associated Press: Amazon, citing a Colorado tax on online sales, is cutting off its Colorado affiliates that help sell products through the online retail site. Affiliates earn money by using their Web sites to link customers to online sellers like Amazon.

Colorado News Agency: Amazon.com, the world’s largest online retailer, retaliated yesterday against the Colorado General Assembly and Gov. Bill Ritter for moving to collect taxes on sales over the Web. House Bill 1193, signed into law by Ritter last month, requires online retailers to inform Colorado residents how much they owe in sales taxes for purchases made via the internet. The bill would also require retailers to provide summary information to the state of people’s web-purchases. Amazon’s retaliation came in the form of closing the accounts of all Colorado sales “associates,” which are people or businesses which advertise Amazon products, and make a commission on all sales that they personally generate. While associates in the state will have their accounts closed, Amazon gave no indication that it would curtail or otherwise end its retailing in Colorado. An earlier version of HB 1193 had sought to force retailers like Amazon to collect taxes on Colorado sales if at least one in-state affiliate solicits on behalf of the retailer. Amazon does collect sales tax for a handful of states, according to www.techflash.com.

KDVR: Here’s reaction from Colorado leaders “in their own words” to Amazon’s decision.

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STATE BILL COLORADO
Scores of Twitterers weighed in this morning on Amazon’s decision to fire its Colorado-based associates because of the state’s passage of HB10-1193. Reaction, predictably, was negative, with posters complaining specifically about Colorado’s governor and state legislators who backed the bill.

TheLeapGuys Amazon has FIRED Colorado! If you live in Colorado and have an affiliate account with Amazon, YOU DON’T ANYMORE. A… http://bit.ly/cnFGUS
1 minute ago from Facebook
ReplyRetweet

rollerblader RT @mellies: It appears Amazon has dropped Colorado Affiliates http://tinyurl.com/ylc2rs8 #noadtax #affiliatetax
3 minutes ago from web

toddfarmer RT @sunshinetricia: RT @eprussakov: Amazon Removes Colorado Affiliates (and Why) – http://tinyurl.com/ylc2rs8 (via @mellies)
5 minutes ago from TweetDeck

adogy RT @rosenz Amazon just killed all affiliates in Colorado. Thanks Colorado gov! You just put so many people out of work!
5 minutes ago from TweetDeck

MarkDavids12 Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates – O’Reilly Radar: I’m not thrilled about Amazon’s reaction but this law that … http://bit.ly/9P5AkU
5 minutes ago from twitterfeed

LoriOsterberg Amazon no longer offering affiliate links to Colorado peeps b/c of new CO state law http://bit.ly/c354cZ via @radar @abstanfield
7 minutes ago from Seesmic

tessatalks Horrible! RT @affiliatetip RT @rosenz Amazon just killed all affiliates in Colorado. Thanks CO gov! You just put so many people out of work!
10 minutes ago from TweetDeck

abstanfield Amazon no longer offering affiliate links to Colorado peeps b/c of a new CO state law. http://bit.ly/c354cZ via @radar
11 minutes ago from TweetDeck

akagorilla RT @milesbaker: Amazon has dropped Colorado Affiliates http://tinyurl.com/ylc2rs8 #noadtax #affiliatetax
12 minutes ago from TweetDeck

novelrank Colorado Law causes Amazon to remove me as an Affiliate for Amazon.com, destroying the method NovelRank uses to pay… http://fb.me/65MdI5C
15 minutes ago from Facebook

feydakin RT @rosenz: Amazon just killed all affiliates in Colorado. Thanks Colorado gov! You just put so many people out of work!
15 minutes ago from web

bobbrinker $AMZN Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates – O’Reilly Radar http://bit.ly/cqGVwe << got this notice today also. Bad decision.
15 minutes ago from bit.ly

highfiredanger Wow, Amazon closed all Colorado-based Associates accounts, including mine, because of HB 10-1193. Shittiness all around.
19 minutes ago from Tweetie

milesbaker Amazon just dropped me as an affiliate because I live in Colorado. Thanks Amazon and CO gov.! #noadtax
22 minutes ago from TweetDeck

sunshinetricia RT @eprussakov: Amazon Removes Colorado Affiliates (and Why) – http://tinyurl.com/ylc2rs8 (via @mellies)
23 minutes ago from TweetDeck

busymoms1 It appears that right now it’s only Amazon who is pulling accounts from Colorado residents. If anyone knows any different can they tweet.
23 minutes ago from web

nicknap RT @AffAdvocacy: Amazon has drops Colorado Affiliates http://tinyurl.com/ylc2rs8 #noadtax #affiliatetax
27 minutes ago from UberTwitter

ClaudiaC Amazon has stopped doing business with it’s Colorado affiliates. I’m guessing everyone else will follow suit.
28 minutes ago from HootSuite

dubane RT @rosenz: Amazon just killed all affiliates in Colorado. Thanks Colorado gov! You just put so many people out of work!
29 minutes ago from web

riptidegames RT @rosenz: Amazon just killed all affiliates in Colorado. Thanks Colorado gov! You just put so many people out of work!
29 minutes ago from web

riptidegames RT @rosenz: Amazon just killed all affiliates in Colorado. Thanks Colorado gov! You just put so many people out of work!
29 minutes ago from web

Gallondorn Amazon stops working with Affiliates based in Colorado because of State Law http://bit.ly/a1kjmn
30 minutes ago from web

milesbaker Amazon has dropped Colorado Affiliates http://tinyurl.com/ylc2rs8 #noadtax #affiliatetax
31 minutes ago from TweetDeck

montana410 Amazon Closes All Colorado Associate Accounts Today! http://tinyurl.com/yggk3vc #amazon
32 minutes ago from web

Warbson @cafepress will you remove colorado affiliates like Amazon? #noadtax
34 minutes ago from web

Warbson i knew it would happen! Amazon terminates colorado affiliates http://tinyurl.com/ylc2rs8 #noadtax
35 minutes ago from web

paulswansen Colorado Affiliate Marketing.: Dear Colorado-based Amazon Associate: We are writing from the Amazon Associates Pro… http://bit.ly/bmwFYc
36 minutes ago from twitterfeed

twobkumagai RT @affiliatetip: RT @rosenz Amazon just killed all affiliates in Colorado. Thanks Colorado gov! You just put so many people out of work!
37 minutes ago from TweetDeck

pcnerd37 Amazon terminates Colorado based associates: http://bit.ly/9sI5BB
37 minutes ago from TweetDeck

OneHourBlogger RT @rosenz: Amazon just killed all affiliates in Colorado. Thanks Colorado gov! You just put so many people out of work!
37 minutes ago from web

mekayhonez Colorado legislature raised state unemployment with this: RT @JoeMayo: Amazon.com cutting off affiliate advertising for Colorado
40 minutes ago from Brizzly

Lionsdaffiliate RT @mellies: It appears Amazon has dropped Colorado Affiliates http://tinyurl.com/ylc2rs8 #noadtax #affiliatetax
40 minutes ago from web

jakesutton It seems I am no longer an Amazon Associate, thanks to the Colorado legislature or something… Huh. #fb
41 minutes ago from Tweetie

globalgeeknews Amazon terminates Colorado based associates: http://bit.ly/9sI5BB
41 minutes ago from Twitme for WordPress

affiliateagle1 Retweet: affiliatetip Amazon just killed all affiliates in Colorado. Thanks Colorado gov! You just put so many people out of work!
about 1 hour ago from txt

buckatspinsix RT @affiliatetip: RT @rosenz Amazon just killed all affiliates in Colorado. Thanks Colorado gov! You just put so many people out of work!
about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck

brucecat Amazon just killed all affiliates in Colorado. Thanks Colorado gov! You just put so many people out of work! RT @affiliatetip: RT @rosenz
about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck

affiliatetip RT @rosenz Amazon just killed all affiliates in Colorado. Thanks Colorado gov! You just put so many people out of work!
about 1 hour ago from web

tmaaz Woke up to find out all Amazon Associates – like myself – In Colorado had their accounts closed today, due to HB 10-1193. Nice job CO gov!
about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck

OEX1 Amazon closes all Colorado based associate accounts because of new tax law http://affiliates-make-money-online.blogspot.com/
about 1 hour ago from web

kvwhalen RT @rosenz: Amazon just killed all affiliates in Colorado. Thanks Colorado gov! You just put so many people out of work!
about 1 hour ago from web

AffAdvocacy Amazon has drops Colorado Affiliates http://tinyurl.com/ylc2rs8 #noadtax #affiliatetax
about 1 hour ago from web

mellies It appears Amazon has dropped Colorado Affiliates http://tinyurl.com/ylc2rs8 #noadtax #affiliatetax
about 1 hour ago from web

rosenz Amazon just killed all affiliates in Colorado. Thanks Colorado gov! You just put so many people out of work!
about 1 hour ago from web

busymoms1 The state of Colorado has just taken away my right to earn money in affiliate marketing. Amazon shut my account down today.
about 1 hour ago from web

SiteShrine Amazon Associates Drops Colorado Affiliates: Due to new sales tax legislation in Colorado Amazon.com is no longer … http://bit.ly/aIaqxK
about 1 hour ago from twitterfeed

sarahw So not surprised, alas. RT @PublishersLunch: #plnws Amazon Said to Eliminate Colorado Associates http://bit.ly/9P5AkU
about 1 hour ago from Seesmic

draccah Again: rt @PublishersLunch: #plnws Amazon Said to Eliminate Colorado Associates http://bit.ly/9P5AkU [Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates]
about 1 hour ago from web

PublishersLunch #plnws Amazon Said to Eliminate Colorado Associates http://bit.ly/9P5AkU
about 1 hour ago from twitterfeed

kgdotin MUST READ: Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://www.karangoel.in/amazon-fires-its-colorado-associates/
about 1 hour ago from Twitter Tools

RogueUniversity RT @radar: Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates by @gnat – http://bit.ly/9P5AkU
about 1 hour ago from twitterfeed

JoeMayo Amazon.com emailed this morning; cutting off affiliate advertising for Colorado
about 1 hour ago from web

dedalusjmmr Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://ff.im/-h8WTj
about 1 hour ago from FriendFeed

MycoRant Got an email from Amazon saying my associates account is canceled because of Colorado tax policy. Can this be true?
about 1 hour ago from Echofon

AffiliateForums Did Amazon Remove Colorado Affiliates and Why: I woke this morning to news that Amazon has removed Colorado Affilia… http://cli.gs/7ZLer
about 1 hour ago from twitterfeed

patrickswinnea Amazon closes all Colorado affiliate accounts, including mine.
about 1 hour ago from Twitterrific

SiteShrine Amazon Associates Drops Colorado Affiliates http://3.ly/XGMD
about 2 hours ago from SiteShrine.net

hayduke Amazon shuts down it’s Associates program for all Colorado-based affiliates.
about 2 hours ago from Tweetie

BabsVk RT @jafurtado: Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates, by Nat Torkington |O’Reilly Radar http://is.gd/9X7AM
about 2 hours ago from Tweetree

MLMNoobie Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://bgl.me/5qy
about 2 hours ago from API

walkerthompson Colorado passes its online sales tax law, so there goes my Amazon Affiliate program revenue… I guess they were serious…
about 2 hours ago from HelloTxt

liorsfeed Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://bit.ly/aVIPAC
about 2 hours ago from twitterfeed

bemorehavemore Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://bgl.me/5qw
about 2 hours ago from API

mystumble Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://bit.ly/aZSfGD
about 2 hours ago from itweetlive

Dakshinamurti Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://ow.ly/16Kiyk
about 2 hours ago from HootSuite

OriginalSignal Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates: I just got interesting email from Amazon: the Colorado government recently e… http://bit.ly/9Lrenf
about 3 hours ago from twitterfeed

shellb7 Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates – O’Reilly Radar http://bit.ly/aDIFyv
about 3 hours ago from twitterfeed

HotFrogNews Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates – O’Reilly Radar http://bit.ly/9P5AkU
about 3 hours ago from twitterfeed

JackKrupansky I wonder if Amazon will reinstate my Associates account – I moved from Colorado in 2006 but acct had my old address.
about 3 hours ago from web

bradleyhunt Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates (O’Reilly Radar): http://bit.ly/c354cZ
about 3 hours ago from TweetDeck

sldfjd [ff] Rob Diana: Sharing: Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://bit.ly/aglfQg : http://url4.eu/1hrTf
about 3 hours ago from RSS2Twitter

robdiana Sharing: Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://bit.ly/aglfQg
about 3 hours ago from twitterfeed

breakingweb Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://bit.ly/cMfMor via http://topicfire.com/Web-2.0
about 3 hours ago from API

sldfjd [ff] Rob Diana: Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates: http://url4.eu/1hqfS
about 3 hours ago from RSS2Twitter

amazonbuyer Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://bit.ly/buXshU
about 4 hours ago from twitterfeed

howdous Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates: I just got interesting email from Amazon: the Colorado government recently e… http://bit.ly/aggmC4
about 4 hours ago from twitterfeed

AdamEngstFeeds O’Reilly Radar: Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates: I just got interesting email from Amazon: the Colorado gover… http://bit.ly/9Lrenf
about 4 hours ago from twitterfeed

iitp Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://ow.ly/16Kfwo
about 4 hours ago from HootSuite

Dakshinamurti Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://ow.ly/16KfEd
about 4 hours ago from HootSuite

worktweets radar: Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://bit.ly/9Lrenf
about 4 hours ago from twitterfeed

mikegechter_rss Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates: I just got interesting email from Amazon: the Colorado government recently e… http://bit.ly/9Lrenf
about 5 hours ago from twitterfeed

MollyDugganLLC Oreilly Radar: Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://bit.ly/9F3ant Full http://bit.ly/anQyLA
about 5 hours ago from API

OriginalSignal Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates: I just got interesting email from Amazon: the Colorado government recently e… http://bit.ly/d5zgXed
about 5 hours ago from twitterfeed

andreashelo Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates: by Nat Torkington | @gnat | comments: 0 I just got interesting email from Am… http://bit.ly/9Lrenf
about 5 hours ago from twitterfeed

TopHitList Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates – http://tinyurl.com/ycgwf7g
about 5 hours ago from API

vidaltaxes Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates: We are writing from the Amazon Associates Program to inform you that the Col… http://bit.ly/bwYqbA
about 5 hours ago from twitterfeed

joseantvazquez RT @radar Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates by @gnat – http://bit.ly/9P5AkU
about 5 hours ago from web

livepress Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates: I just got interesting email from Amazon: the Colorado government recently e… http://bit.ly/cSssfV
about 5 hours ago from twitterfeed

radar Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates by @gnat – http://bit.ly/9P5AkU
about 5 hours ago from twitterfeed

jennpalm Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates by @gnat – http://bit.ly/9P5AkU
about 5 hours ago from twitterfeed

ITBlogs O’Reilly: Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://bit.ly/d5gXed
about 5 hours ago from twitterfeed

tybohannon Amazon Affiliate Tax Strikes Colorado. Seems to be rapidly infecting other states! http://ow.ly/1ftgP
about 5 hours ago from HootSuite

MH_Bonham @PhilippaJane Colorado enacted some BS sales tax law which requires Amazon to collect. I no longer live in Colorado, but Montana.
about 5 hours ago from Echofon

markjameslord RT @RSS_OReilly: Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://bit.ly/dlup4k
about 5 hours ago from twitrss

PhilippaJane @MH_Bonham What did Colorado do to Amazon??
about 5 hours ago from TweetDeck

RSS_OReilly Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates http://bit.ly/dlup4k
about 5 hours ago from twitrss

sb302 Amazon Fires Its Colorado Associates: I just got interesting email from Amazon: the Colorado government recently e… http://bit.ly/cItKet
about 5 hours ago from twitterfeed

MH_Bonham OMFG. Amazon just canceled my associates account because they still think I live in Colorado. They’ve canceled everyone’s who live there.
about 5 hours ago from Echofon

digireviews Reading: Amazon shuts down Colorado Affiliates http://bit.ly/9YRoLY
about 5 hours ago from twitterfeed

JD_DenverSW Amazon just yanked the accounts of website affiliates in Colorado over a new Colorado sales tax law.
about 5 hours ago from web

Babasfarmlife Colorado legislation just ruined my Amazon acct! Creeps!
about 6 hours ago from web

SupAffiliatesTV #SATV Amazon Closes Colorado Associate Accounts as of March 8th Due to HB10-1193: Here is the letter I just receiv… http://bit.ly/bEYKdD
about 6 hours ago from twitterfeed

franklinB Amazon Closes Colorado Associate Accounts as of March 8th Due to HB10-1193: Here is the letter I just received fro… http://bit.ly/dfFXMd
about 6 hours ago from twitterfeed

mpelembe RT @DianaHsieh: I’m going to be sick. Amazon has (justifiably) closed down all associate accounts for Colorado because of a horrid new state law.
about 6 hours ago from Tweetie

DianaHsieh I’m going to be sick. Amazon has (justifiably) closed down all associate accounts for Colorado because of a horrid new state law.
about 6 hours ago from Tweetie

stockvalues Amazon reacted to http://bit.ly/HB10-1193 by closing all Colorado-based associates. Gov. Ritter signed a stupid law, now Coloradans suffer.
about 6 hours ago from bit.ly

affdump Dennis Yu: Amazon shuts down Colorado Affiliates http://affdump.com/go.php?aid=60013 (via @affdump)
about 6 hours ago from API

InTheoryTV New blog post: Anti-Business Colorado law causes Amazon to stop advertising through Associates based in Colorado http://bit.ly/938QT4
about 6 hours ago from Twitter Tools

kvangork Stupid move, Colorado government. Did you really think Amazon.com was going to roll over and start collecting sales tax for you?
about 6 hours ago from Tweetie

dwiskus No more Amazon Associates accounts for Colorado residents. They’re all being closed effective immediately.
about 6 hours ago from Tweetie

justincline Gee thanks State of Colorado, looks like Amazon closed my Assiciates account due to your new taxes. If I made money from it, I’d be pissed.
about 6 hours ago from Tweetie

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“Your Associates account has been closed as of March 8, 2010, and we will no longer pay advertising fees for customers you refer to Amazon.com after that date,” the online company said in an e-mail, according to O’Reilly Radar. The company also asserts that it won’t voluntarily collect taxes on sales made in Colorado.

Read other coverage of HB10-1193 here.

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When Coloradans make purchases over the Internet from out-of-state companies such as Amazon.com and Overstock.com, they’re supposed to voluntarily submit sales taxes to the state. Few, if any, do, The Denver Post reports. A measure heading toward a final vote in the state Senate would attempt to change that by requiring companies to inform Colorado customers — both at the time of sale and at the end of the year — that they owe the state taxes on their purchases.

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Colorado lawmakers are considering a new tactic to go after tax revenue from online sales. They want out-of-state online retailers to either start collecting the tax or send annual notices to their customers telling them to pay the tax themselves, the Associated Press reports. The proposal, which was set to be debated Monday in the full Senate, is part of an overall package of tax bills to cover a $1.5 billion shortfall due to the recession. The amended measure (House Bill 1193) would require retailers like Amazon.com Inc. and Overstock.com Inc. to either start collecting sales tax on March 1 or send notices to their customers stating how much they spent with them in the previous year and telling them how much they owe in state sales tax.

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