Boycott Amazon?
A coalition of groups that advocate for the elderly and poor are urging California online shoppers to boycott Amazon.com because of its refusal to collect state sales tax on purchases made through the website.
Organizations including California Alliance for Retired Americans, the Health and Human Services Network of California, Health Access, the Western Center on Law and Poverty, the California Immigration Policy Center, the California Partnership held a Sacramento press conference on Aug. 15 to announce the creation of the Think Before You Click website. They urged people to cancel their Amazon accounts.
Amazon has so far refused to collect state sales tax on Californians’ purchases from its website. The Seattle-based retailer has ended its financial relationship with affiliate websites based in California and has contributed to a referendum to repeal the online sales tax law.
The groups were joined at the press conference by state Sen. Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) and Assembly members Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and Charles Calderon (D-Whittier).