Taxes

With the U.S. presidential election drawing nearer, a New York-based tech group sent both President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney a letter asking how his policies would benefit tech startups, and both candidates have provided outlines in response.

Among other things, Romney mentions raising visa caps for highly skilled foreign workers; lowering the corporate tax rate to 25 percent and strengthening the R&D tax credit; and requiring that all major regulations receive congressional approval.

President Obama mentions having created the position of U.S. Chief Technology Officer and pursuing open data initiatives (an unlocking of data … Read more

Silicon Valley's economy seems to be recovering more quickly than the rest of the nation's, with employers hiring and venture capitalists offering sunny predictions. There's even a new reality show based here.

It may not last. A new analysis of how business-friendly states are -- released today by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation -- shows that California is way at the bottom. The Golden State ranks a dismal 48 out of 50.

"States do not institute tax policy in a vacuum," said Scott Drenkard and Joseph Henchman, the study's authors. "Every change to a … Read more

A trade association of 41 European telephone companies responded last week to mounting concerns over its controversial proposal to turn Internet traffic management over to the International Telecommunications Union, a regulatory body of the United Nations.

The European Telecommunications Network Operators Association, or ETNO, made its proposal in June, part of a year-long process to revise an ITU treaty known as the International Telecommunications Regulations. Changes to the treaty, which has not been revised since 1998, will be finalized later this year in Dubai at the World Conference on International Telecommunications.

Only national governments can vote on the new treaty. … Read more

California's tax collectors are preparing to open a new front in their battle to collect sales taxes from Amazon.com customers.

A deal inked last year between Amazon and Sacramento means that, for most items shipped from the online retailer's warehouses, sales tax will be collected at checkout starting tomorrow. But, as CNET reported earlier this week, that doesn't apply to hundreds of thousands of items "fulfilled" by Amazon from its warehouses on behalf of other sellers.

That means a New York camera shop could have inventory located in an Amazon warehouse outside of San … Read more

Amazon.com's agreement with Sacramento officials means that, starting Saturday, it will collect sales taxes on items that it sells to California residents.

But Amazon will continue to not collect taxes on hundreds of thousands of items that it lists for sale on its Web site, stores in its warehouses, and packages for quick shipment to California residents.

Those orders -- called "fulfilled" by Amazon -- amount to a tax loophole that has left Sacramento tax collectors a tad unhappy. California sales tax rates are among the highest in the country, topping out at 9.75 percent, … Read more

ASPEN, Colo.--European network providers today defended their proposal submitted to a United Nations body that would allow them to levy fees on content providers including Google, Facebook, Apple, and Netflix.

"We believe that this situation is putting at risk our capacity to invest," said Luigi Gambardella, chairman of the executive board of the European Telecommunications Network Operators, or ETNO. "We need to rethink together and to establish a new balance."

The idea was not exactly popular with representatives of the U.S. government and Verizon, who also spoke at the Technology Policy Institute's conference … Read more

Wondering what Uncle Sam does with your hard-earned tax dollars? The White House's Taxpayer Receipt page has been updated for 2011 to help answer that question.

To get started you'll need to enter the social security tax, medicare tax, and income tax that you paid for 2011. If that information isn't handy, you can estimate by choosing from a range of households and incomes, such as single with no children, married with one child, or married with two children.

In return, the site displays how much you doled out in tax dollars to the Fed for last … Read more

The wife of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and the co-founder of Instagram are among the notable guests for tonight's State of the Union address by President Obama.

The presence of Laurene Powell Jobs and Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger signals that at least a part of the State of the Union will focus on technology, which President Obama has long argued can help improve the country's fortunes.

Releasing the guest list for the State of the Union address has increasingly become a way for the White House to call attention to an issue or initiative, using an individual … Read more

Amazon said it supports a federal law that would let states collect sales tax from online retailers, but only if smaller businesses are not exempt.

Paul Misener, Amazon's vice president for global public policy, yesterday expressed support for an "even-handed" method of collecting state sales taxes from Internet vendors in congressional testimony (PDF).

"Congress should authorize the states to require collection, with the great objects of protecting states' rights, addressing the states' needs, and leveling the playing field for all sellers," Misener said, according to a transcript of his testimony.

But the Amazon executive argued … Read more