Tariffs On Most Books from China Now 7.5% - Publishers Weekly

As Panzer was napping today he was rudely woken up by clapping and cheering coming from the Catosphere. Jumping in the Panzermobile, our kitty pilot followed all the jocularity to the Publishers Weekly site. There he discovered a post about the U.S. tariff on books from China was the cause of all the noise.

Makes no sense to this little kitty.

The post by Jim Milliot says the U.S. has lowered the tariff (tax) on books from China coming into the country to 7.5 percent from 15 percent. The new lower rate went into effect on February 14. Many U.S. publishers manufacture their books in China and then have them shipped to the U.S.

Panzer says, "The tariff on children's coloring books won't go into effect either."

Note: This is a short-short length post. Bring half a cup of tea for today's reading.

To read the post tootle over to book tariffs

Seattle's Socialist City Councilmember introduces new 'Amazon Tax' to raise $300M/year for affordable public housing - GeekWire

Panzer made a quick stop at the GeekWire site today. There he found a post about a Seattle (Washington) City Council member who wants to put an employee tax on Amazon.

Amazon HQ could move.

According to Monica Nickelsburg's post, a Seattle, Washington, socialist city Councilmember Kshama Sawant is gathering support for her proposed 'Tax Amazon' campaign. Councilmember Kshama Sawant proposes a 1.7 percent tax on the payrolls of 'big business' companies located in Seattle. Since Amazon is headquartered in Seattle, she calls it the 'Tax Amazon' campaign. Councilmember Sawant estimates her plan would collect $300 Million per year. Of that money, 75 percent would go to build 8,000 homes over ten years.The other 25 percent would go to change 47,000 homes from natural gas to electric heat. Sawant's plan conflicts with a tax plan King County (where Seattle is located), city of Seattle's mayor and Amazon (as well as other big businesses) are working on. There are several links to other posts included in the post.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... She plans to collect $300 million a year ... She plans 8,000 homes over 10 years. ...  How about some apartment buildings instead? ... Go up faster. ... People get homes faster. ... Bet they're cheaper than a bunch of individual homes."

Note: This is a huge post. Bring a quart of tea and six muffins for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow all the links in the post, bring another gallon of tea and another dozen muffins.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon tax

Amazon reveals new details about its federal tax bill in shot across the bow at critics - GeekWire

Today Panzer decided to make a quick trip to the GeekWire site. Digging around in the posts, our traveling kitty boy found one about Amazon and the company's U.S. federal income taxes. While the post doesn't really have anything to do with publishing, it is about Amazon.

$1 billion? That's a lot of kitty treats.

According to the GeekWire post by Monica Nickelsburg, Amazon has released information about its 2019 U.S. federal income taxes at the company's blog last week. The company said it had a $1 billion tax expense in addition to other taxes. Monica Nickelsburg speculates Amazon is releasing the information because some of the presidential candidates have taken aim at Amazon saying the company doesn't pay any federal taxes. There's a link to Amazon's information post included in the GeekWire post. In Amazon's post the company also explains other taxes and how much the company pays, as well as its involvement in fighting homelessness, and other issues like solar power.

Panzer says,  "Hmm ... Do you think now they'll stop saying Amazon doesn't pay any taxes?"

Note: This is a long-medium length post. Bring a large cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon federal tax bill

Amazon to Block Australian Customers from Using Amazon.com, & They Could Lose Access to Their eBooks - The Digital Reader

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when the Panzermobile was shaken and buffeted by howling and crying and gnashing of teeth. Following all the anguish took our brave kitty pilot to The Digital Reader site. There he discovered a post about Amazon.com.

According to The Digital Reader site owner Nate Hoffelder's post, after July 1 Amazon will no longer allow Australian's to have access to the Amazon.com site. Instead, Australian shoppers will be redirected to the Amazon.com.au site. The post quotes from an Australian news site which says the new policy is being implemented in response to Australia's new ten percent tax (tariff) on all goods purchased from companies outside Australia (overseas). The The Digital Reader post also includes speculation on  the possibility of problems for Australian Kindle users and losing access to their ebook purchases. The Comments section has some interesting information too.

It's a ten percent tariff ... Not a tax.

Panzer says, "Ummm ... Put a ten percent tax (tariff) on my products and I won't sell the products to you anymore. Makes sense to this little kitty."

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a glass of milk and two chocolate chip cookies (biscuits) for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon

Government announces further tax for Kiwis buying low-value goods online - NZ Herald

Panzer was enjoying a leisurely trip around the Catosphere when the Panzermobile was shaken and buffeted by shouting and crying and teeth gnashing. Following all the noise took our brave kitty pilot to the NZ Herald site. With no digging at all he found a post about New Zealand's Amazon Tax.

The NZ (New Zealand) Herald post by Audrey Young and Barry Soper says the New Zealand government is ready to announce a new 15 percent tax on low-value online purchases from overseas companies. The government designates purchases under $400 as low-value. Online purchases over $400 are already taxed. Although the tax is nicknamed the Amazon Tax it will apply to all online retail sellers such as Alibaba and e-Bay as well as Amazon.

All I need is a credit card and a computer.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... I guess the New Zealand government wants to make it so expensive people wont purchase anything online from an overseas company ever. Of course, that tax doesn't mean anything to a New Zealand cat with his Mom's credit card."

Note: This is a short-medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and half a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon Tax

Indonesia likely to tax ebooks in 2018 - The New Publishing Standard

Only 6 Days Until Christmas

Panzer was sweeping out the Panzermobile when he discovered a rolled up post stuffed under the passenger seat. Smoothing it out our fastidious kitty boy discovered it was a post from The New Publishing Standard site about Indonesia imposing a tax on "imported" ebooks.

According to the post by Mark Williams, it appears that with the expiration of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) moratorium on charging taxes on imported intangibles that Indonesia will begin charging taxes on ebooks (and other intangibles). The Indonesian government will be the beneficiary of the new taxes. As Google Play and Kobo are the only ebook platforms serving Indonesia the new taxes will only impact their sales there.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... So, it's not just the U.S. using taxes to get their cut of the ebook pie."

Note: This is a long post. Bring half a thermos of tea and two muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to ebook tax

Luxembourg challenges EU order to recover tax from Amazon - Reuters

10 Days Until Christmas

Panzer has been a busy kitty today helping Mom put up the Christmas decorations, so his trip into the Catosphere was a quick one. Our speedy kitty boy hurried to the Reuters site. With a little digging he found a post about Amazon and Luxembourg.

According to the post composed by the Reuters staff, Luxembourg is appealing the European Union's recent order to them to collect 250 million euros from Amazon for back taxes. The European Commission asserts Luxembourg gave special tax treatment to Amazon, which Luxembourg denies. The appeal will be heard in the General Court in Luxembourg. The post states Luxembourg is already appealing an EU tax collection order case against another company.

Panzer says, "This little kitty doesn't understand how the European Union can come into a member country and tell that country who to collect taxes from and how much to collect in taxes. Does the EU get part or all of the tax money? Are members of the EU no longer sovereign countries?"

Note: This is a short post. Bring a cup of tea for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon Luxembourg tax

EU orders Amazon to pay $295 million in Luxembourg back taxes - Robert-Jan Bartunek

Panzer is feeling a little better today, so he took a short trip into the Catosphere. Our sick little kitty boy made a quick stop at the Yahoo! Finance site. There he found a post from the Reuters news service about Amazon.

With antibiotics and pain pills I feel better.

According to the post by Robert-Jan Bartunek, the European Union (EU) is cracking down on what they consider special tax deals within certain member countries of which Luxembourg is one. Therefore, the EU has ordered Amazon to pay $295 million in back taxes to Luxembourg. Amazon contends the company already paid all of their required taxes to Luxembourg. Luxembourg also says the EU is wrong in their computations and judgement. There is a video at the top of the post about the European Union's tax assessments.

Panzer says, "This little kitty is confused. The EU gets to decide how much taxes a member country can charge and who they can charge?"

Note: This is a long post and a video. Bring a thermos of tea and six muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to Amazon taxes

How Will "The Brexit" Impact Book Publishing? - Book Business

Panzer decided to do a little exploring in the Catosphere today. Our inquisitive kitty wanted to see what he could find out about Brexit's impact on publishing. His searches took him to the Book Business site.

Now ... What is VAT? EU?

There Panzer found an interesting post by Ellen Harvey loaded with the same questions he has. Like: "What about the VAT?" "New taxes?" "Sales where?" While the post doesn't answer any of the questions, it does include links to other posts that although not definitive do prove helpful. Oh ... The post includes a few quoted tweets from authors too.

Panzer says, "It's all so confusing to this little kitty."

Note: This is a short post, but there are linked posts that make this a l-o-n-g post. You'll need two cups of tea and two muffins for today's whole reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to Brexit and book publishing

Revealed: how Project Goldcrest helped Amazon avoid huge sums in tax - The Guardian

Panzer, our intrepid traveling kitty, stopped in at The Guardian site today. After just a little digging around, he found a post about Amazon and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Let's take a closer look at this.

According to the post there, Amazon is being forced to shine a light on their payment of taxes or lack of payment in the United States. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has taken Amazon to court. The IRS hopes to prove to the court that Amazon's complicated company structure was set up to avoid U.S. taxes. Documents presented in court show that under the code name Goldcrest companies and subsidiary companies were formed in other countries so Amazon pays very little in U.S. taxes.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Avoid taxes ... Isn't that what all humans want to do?"

Note: This is a h-u-g-e post with extra links at the end. You'll need a thermos of tea and a dozen muffins for your read today.

To read the post, tootle over to Amazon

Apple Taxes Authors' Patience - Huff Post The Blog

Mom say's I'll feel better tomorrow.

Panzer took an extra long after lunch nap today because he's still recovering from his annual vaccinations at the vet yesterday. So, our sleepy kitty pilot made a short trip to the Huff Post The Blog site. He found a post there by Janet Tavakoli about a problem for authors signing directly with Apple's iTunes Connect.

According to Ms. Tavakoli, Apple has a problem with their iTunes Connect tax software. It seems when an author who is an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) tries to fill out the required tax form, the information is entered wrong by the software. The only way the author can get the information corrected is to write to the tax department. Apple has known about the problem for three years, but failed to correct it.

Panzer says, "But ... But ... I'm already an LLC (Lots and Lots of Cat)."

Note: This is a short post so one cup of tea will be enough today.

To read the post, tootle over to Apple

Britain To Levy 25% Google Tax

I'm not going over there.

Panzer woke from his nap this afternoon to yowling. My adventurous kitty jumped in the Panzermobile and followed the wailing and gnashing of teeth to The New York Times site. He found the source of all the noise in the Bits section of the site in a post by Mark Scott and Stephen Castle.

According to the post a draft legislation to levy a 25% tax on Google and other multinational companies (Amazon) will be presented to Britain's Parliament on December 10. It is expected to pass.

Panzer says, "Let's see. You have the EU VAT and now a 25% tax on sales. Why do you want to chase all these businesses out?"

Warning: Another b-i-g cup of tea as this is a long post.

To read the whole post, tootle over to Google tax

EU Investigating Amazon in Luxembourg

Anybody else want to get in line?

Panzer was out in the Catosphere today and stopped in at the New York Times site. He found a post by Mark Scott with breaking news about Amazon.

Scott lets us know that the European Union has opened an investigation into Amazon's office in Luxembourg. The investigation looks at the possibility Amazon may have gotten special tax treatment from Luxembourg.

Amazon says "No."

Luxembourg says "No."

But, the investigation continues.

Panzer says, "The line just keeps getting longer against Amazon."

Be warned, you'll need a HUGE cup of tea because this is a LONG post.

To read the whole post, tootle over to Amazon in Luxembourg