Amazon Tax Passes: Shows What Will Happen If Income Hike Does Too
One of the 50 Best Small and Medium Workplaces is already looking to relocate.
by Mark Cavers
On Thursday, the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation requiring online retailers to collect sales tax from their affiliates in Illinois (for a full explanation of the law click here). When New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island passed similar legislation online retailers cut relationships with their instate affiliates, costing those local companies money.
Fatwallet.com is a local small business with a 30,000 square foot facility in Rockton, Illinois. It was named one of the 50 Best Small and Medium Workplaces in the country, the legislation passed Thursday is a loud and clear signal that they are not welcome in Illinois.
According to the Chicago Tribune FatWallet.com is already looking to move: FatWallet officials were busy Thursday scouting ways to leave Illinois, because the new law will essentially cut 30 to 40 percent of their revenue. Policy changes lives, in this case immediately.
This should not be a surprise. Representative Dave Winters repeatedly highlighted the impact this legislation would have on FatWallet: A company in my district has a relationship with Amazon. If they move three miles north to Wisconsin, theyre not subject to Illinois law anymore. They could then say you know what, this tax is a great tax but were not paying it. We moved out of state, and were moving all those jobs with us, but his fellow legislators did not listen.
The lesson: businesses and individuals respond quickly to changing circumstances. The Institute has shown the number of jobs that an income tax hike will cost Illinoisans. The passage of the Amazon Tax and its impact on small businesses is a real life example of how tax increases drive jobs out of Illinois.