Whitney Cale
Staff Writer
There will be yet another tax imposed on Alabama residents beginning in November.
Online shopping is quickly becoming customers’ first choice when it comes to purchasing products. Why? Because it’s easy.
“Online shopping is sort of like ordering a pizza; it’s delivered right to your door,” said Emily Pierce, a freshman math major from Robertsdale.
“I even got a TU box on campus because I order online so much.”
Online shopping becomes even easier when you find a site that sells practically everything, like Amazon, one of the world’s largest online retailers.
I personally shop on Amazon for most of my products, but I began wondering just how many people, specifically students, use Amazon.
So, I took to the streets of Troy University to take a poll. I asked 50 random students, “If you participate in online shopping, what is your website of choice?”
Only two of the 50 students said they have never shopped online.
Thirty-two of the 48 students who do participate in online shopping said that Amazon is their first choice.
Nine students said they prefer eBay over any other retailer.
The remaining seven students who online shop said they shop only from direct vendors such as Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, JCPenney, etc.
Based on the results, it is evident that Amazon captures the majority of the online market.
“Amazon’s a great place to shop for half-price deals,” said Rebekah Womack, a senior elementary education major from Venice, Italy.
“If you see clothing you want in a store, you can find it much cheaper on Amazon.”
While many shoppers may not be aware of this, Amazon does not charge a sales tax to all 50 states in the U.S. Currently, Alabama is one of the 22 untaxed states.
According to AL.com, Amazon is the latest to sign on to participate in Alabama’s Simplified Use Tax Remittance Program. This program allows outside retailers making sales into the state of Alabama to charge a flat 8 percent sales tax.
This agreement will become effective the first of November this year.
There are pros and cons to Alabama becoming the 29th state in the U.S. to collect a sales tax from Amazon.
Julie Magee, Alabama revenue commissioner, said to the Dothan Eagle in an interview, “This partnership with Amazon is a huge benefit for the state and means additional, much-needed revenues, especially as Amazon continues to capture more and more of the online retail market share.”
Along with increased revenue for the state, the simplified tax law allows the 8 percent rate to be locked in, even if the federal government establishes an even higher rate at a later time.
On the other hand, nobody likes to pay taxes.
What’s next? Will they take away our free shipping included with Amazon Prime?
