Taxes

California consumers will have to become accustomed to paying for sales taxes on purchases from Amazon.com now that Governor Jerry Brown has signed a new bill into law regarding the controversial topic.

However, this doesn't necessarily mean that all California consumers will see higher shopping cart bills today. Although the bill is supposed to become effective immediately, merchants--including Amazon--are not required to collect sales taxes until September 15, 2012.

The topic has had strong arguments from both sides. From the Amazon point-of-view, not charging sales taxes offers a competitive edge on top of already bargain prices. In weak … Read more

The proposed debt ceiling bill that Congress is expected to pass in the next day or so will not give the Federal Communications Commission authority to auction additional wireless spectrum. But that doesn't mean that wireless incentive auctions are dead.

Wireless experts in Washington, D.C. say Congress could tack on the authorization for the FCC to conduct spectrum auctions to a package that may emerge later this year from the bipartisan deficit-reduction panel created by this week's debt agreement. President Obama said the "super committee," which will consist of six Democrats and six Republicans, will … Read more

The U.S. government is aiming to pull the plug on hundreds of unneeded data centers over the next few years in an attempt to save taxpayers some hard-earned cash.

In a blog published yesterday, the White House's Office of Management and Budget admitted that instead of consolidating data centers as many businesses have done in recent years, the government went in the opposite direction. Between 1998 and 2010, federal agencies actually quadrupled their number of data centers despite increases in the efficiency of data storage.

And, of course, taxpayers have been stuck paying the bills for those data … Read more

Amazon has shut down its affiliates program in Connecticut and Arkansas over the controversial issue of collecting state taxes.

The company announced the move in letters to affiliates Friday, noting that contracts with all Connecticut residents who participate in the Amazon Associates Program would be terminated effective immediately, while contracts with affiliates in Arkansas will be terminated on July 24.

Affiliates of the Associates Program are typically Web site owners and bloggers who link to Amazon on their sites as a way of driving traffic to the online retailer. In return, they receive a commission if a sale is made.… Read more

Some Americans would pay less for digital purchases from iTunes, Amazon.com, and other online stores in the future, if a bill that two U.S. senators introduced today becomes law.

The Digital Goods and Services Tax Fairness Act of 2011, written by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and John Thune (R-S.D.), hopes to curb taxes that single out digital goods and services.

The new bill prohibits state and local governments from taxing products that do not apply to similar tangible items, preventing unnecessary taxes on consumers for using digital products. (See CNET's earlier report on a similar "iTaxes" bill introduced last year in the House of Representatives.) … Read more

With the deadline to pay our taxes ticking away, many of us wonder just how and where Uncle Sam spends our hard-earned dough. The winner of a recent Google contest reveals the answer.

In February, Google launched a contest designed to shed some light into the U.S. government's often perplexing spending habits. Dubbed the Data Viz challenge, the contest asked developers to create online applications that could show us visually where our income tax dollars are spent.

After receiving more than 40 entries, the Google jury has crowned its $5,000 Grand Prize winner. Created by developer Anil … Read more

If you're like a lot of Americans, you probably dread doing your taxes. And if you're like 70 percent of Americans, you try to make tax season a little less painful by filing them online. This story is geared more toward the other 30 percent--the people who still pick up a pencil and punch out figures on a calculator, the people who still line up at a post office or April 15, awaiting their receipt for registered mail.

Filing taxes online is quick, and it guarantees your refund will arrive faster, says CNET editor Jessica Dolcourt. And if … Read more

In a long-awaited decision that could shape the debate over Internet taxes, a New York appeals court today reinstated Amazon.com and Overstock.com's lawsuit claiming a state law forcing them to collect sales taxes is unconstitutional.

A New York appeals court ruled 5-0 that the "dismissal of the entire complaint was premature" and that the lawsuit should continue.

The legal actions, filed a few weeks apart in early 2008, claimed that the state law was "invalid, illegal, and unconstitutional." Amazon has, however, been collecting sales taxes on shipments to Empire State customers while the … Read more

Usually when you order a Double Irish you wind up with a healthy slug of Jameson, not a complicated tax-reduction scheme on the Emerald Isle.

But turns out Google and many other companies are taking advantage of legal tax maneuvers to dramatically reduce the amount of taxes they have to pay on money earned outside the U.S., according to a report today from Bloomberg Businessweek. The report said Google has employed the "Double Irish" technique with such aplomb as to lower the tax rate it pays on income generated outside the U.S. to 2.4 percent, … Read more