New Jersey Holds Hearing on Amazon Tax Exemption

At press time, the New Jersey Senate Budget Committee was scheduled to hold a hearing on S. 1762, legislation that would provide Amazon.com — or any other remote retailer in a similar scenario — a temporary sales tax exemption in exchange for the retailer’s opening two warehouses in the state. A similar bill, A. 2608, is scheduled for a hearing on Monday, March 12.

ABA members Harvey Finkel of Clinton Book Shop in Clinton, New Jersey, and Bill Skees of The Well Read Bookstore in Hawthorne were expected to testify at today’s hearing in opposition to the bill.

Under the Senate legislation, a company such as Amazon.com would be granted an exemption on New Jersey sales tax until July 1, 2013, if it opens a facility in the state on or after January 1, 2012, but before December 1, 2013. (The Assembly bill’s exemption cutoff is September 1, 2013.) In exchange, the company must make a capital investment of “not less than $130 million” by December 1, 2013, and create not fewer than 1,500 full-time jobs by December 1, 2013. The company receiving the exemption must also maintain not fewer than 1,500 full-time jobs for 59 months once the full-time job requirement is met.

NorthJersey.com reported that Amazon.com told lawmakers that if no deal is in place by March 15, it will look to open the two additional warehouses in another state. “I said to them, ‘Ultimatums don’t go over very well in New Jersey,’” Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), a sponsor of S. 1762, told NorthJersey.com. “I have been having continuing discussions with Amazon folks…. And now I expect to reach an agreement that New Jersey businesses and Amazon can embrace.”

ABA is urging bookstore members in New Jersey to call their state lawmakers to make their views clear regarding the Amazon.com sales-tax exemption. Contact information for Jersey lawmakers is available here.

An Assembly hearing scheduled for Monday, March 12. Booksellers who are interested in testifying against the bill should contact ABA Senior Public Policy Analyst David Grogan at dave@bookweb.org or at (800) 637-0037, ext. 6662.