Making Websites Pay Taxes

Amazon has finally agreed to pay sales taxes in California. Alyssa Rosenberg expects the company to flourish regardless:

I wrote in July that I thought Amazon had shifted the market enough that charging sales tax wouldn’t actually put it at a disadvantage with competing retailers, online or off—it has better stock than brick and mortar stores, and volume and corresponding price advantages over other online stores. And I wonder if the largely positive news that’s greeted reports of Amazon’s planned tablet launch, whether it’s TechCrunch’s declaration that it’ll be “huge, potentially,” or Tim Carmody’s explanation of how Amazon is fulfilling Steve Jobs’ vision in a way even Apple can’t, has made the company feel more confident.

Alexis Madrigal frowns at Amazon's rhetoric during its battle with California. The Dish debated the issue of Internet companies paying sales tax when Borders went bust this summer.

Update from a reader:

"Amazon has finally agreed to pay sales taxes in California." Amazon has agreed to COLLECT sales taxes in California. Customers will actually pay the sales taxes. Most of the coverage makes this same mistake, I must say. Alyssa has it right; Alexis has it wrong.