The pressure on the major internet retailers like Amazon.com is forcing them to scale down their operations in states where they are being demanded to collect taxes from buyers.

Online business is growing rapidly and is expected to reach almost $160 billion this year, according to Forrester Research.

Online Retailers With A Physical Presence In A State

But most online sales do not have to collect sales tax, unless they have a physical presence in the state. If an online retailer has some sort of a physical presence in any state, such as a business office, warehouse or a store, then it must collect sales tax from customers of that particular state.

To better understand, let’s take an example: If you have a store in California and you sell online who is also from California, you will need to collect sales tax from that person, even if the item is being shipped from a warehouse located elsewhere.

Currently, there is no need of collecting sales tax from customers who are located in a state where there is no such physical presence.

This rule comes from a decision by the Supreme Court in 1992, where it was said that mail-order merchants did not have to collect sales taxes for sales into states where they did not have any physical presence. This ruling includes all remote sellers, including online retailers.

Independent Partners Selling Through Major Online Retailers

While many online retailers may not have presence in many states, they are still responsible for collecting taxes if they have independent partners in states. For example, Amazon and Overstock permit independent companies with physical presence in different states to sell their goods through their sites and charge them a fee. These major retailers will have to collect taxes even in states where these independent companies exist, as they are selling indirectly through them.

This rule came into effect last year in New York. If you have been following the internet sales tax drama, you would remember that it was even challenged in court. Now, Hawaii, Rhode Island and North Carolina also have passed similar laws. As a response to this law, both the internet giants have cancelled all their associate programs in these states.

Amazon will not really be affected even if all their associate partners are cancelled, as it constitutes only 10% of their total sales. In fact, the margins from these indirect sales are lower than their direct sales.

Local Stores Creating Legal Subsidiaries Online

There are exceptions to this rule. Local stores sell products online tax free by establishing separate legal subsidiaries to handle the business online. Since the online business does not have a physical presence in the state, they do not have to collect sales tax on online purchases. This practice of getting around the rules to avoid sales tax is not appreciated by the “solely” brick-and-mortar retailers who still have to collect taxes from their customers.

Why Local Retailers Feel At A Disadvantage

With so much of the business being done online, the brick-and-mortar retailers feel at a disadvantage and insist that the government makes online retailers collect taxes too. They fear that because of the cheaper rates being offered online, consumers will soon buy only online instead of buying from them. Since most of the states are in need of revenue, they are more than willing to do this.

Implementation Of Use Tax

Many states have now implemented the “use” tax. Use tax is different from sales tax. It is called “use tax” when the customer pays it and “sales tax” when the seller pays it to the state.

Customers, who buy online and live in a state that collects sales tax, are required to pay the tax to the state, even if the online retailers do not collect it. Use tax is a way of making sure that the state collects revenue on every taxable purchase made within its territory. But because collecting use tax even on smaller items means a lot of trouble, states have only implemented this on big items. Things are changing and several states, including Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey, Connecticut and North Carolina are inclined to collect use taxes on all purchases online. However, the complicated rules and lack of enough resources have made it difficult to follow through with this.

In fact, this is the general opinion of most people, who feel that there is no reason why online retailers should not collect taxes from their customers just like any other business.

Initially, online retailers and others argued that collecting taxes for purchases online may restrict the growth of online businesses. More and more states are coming up with stringent methods of collecting taxes. Most states now feel that they are losing out millions of dollars of tax revenue and offline retailers feel their online competitors are being given an unfair advantage. Going by this, it seems more likely that the tax advantage of buying and selling online may come to an end soon.

The Netbook, typically weighing 2-3 pounds could be your latest personal navigation device that shows you the way around.

Dell has introduced a GPS and Wi-Fi card in their netbooks, and turned them into gizmos that can offer turn-by-turn directions as perfectly and as efficiently as any other good standalone navigation device.

Alan Sicher, a senior wireless product manager at Dell said, “Smartphones already have GPS capabilities. We are now bringing it to netbooks so the devices know where you are and can help you where you want to go.”

Now that the traditional standalone GPS gadget has been around for a while and taken for granted, navigation device makers are looking to create something innovative and are looking to offer their software on other devices too.

TomTom, one of the top Dutch manufacturers of automotive navigation systems recently announced that it would be offering turn-by-turn directions apps on the iPhone. It will also be offering accessories such as a car mounting dock and a power charger.

Dell on the other hand is looking at making the most of the netbook sales by incorporating this feature into its notebooks, specifically the Dell Mini 10 netbook.

The Mini 10 is one of Dell’s main creations in the category of netbooks that typically run Windows XP (not Vista) and have less memory and processing power than the regular laptop like a Lenovo notebook. But they also cost less than $500.

Customers can choose the Wireless 700 card for $69 when ordering their netbook. This card combines Broadcom’s GPS technology and Skyhook Wireless Wi-Fi positioning solutions, which can determine a device’s location through satellite signals, the IDs of Wi-Fi networks nearby or both.

This is the first time Dell has licensed Skyhook’s software for use in any of its products. This “Loki” software integrates with browsers such as Internet Explorer and Firefox to help users retrieve information from the web, based on their location.

With the integration of GPS cards into netbooks, they will function almost like a personal navigation device, and may help netbooks impinge on the market for standalone GPS devices. Users can just open their netbook and get directions as well as make their netbook location aware. The navigation software called “CoPilot” is said to offer 2D and 3D map views, allow users to save addresses for a trip, provide route optimization and give turn-by-turn directions to drivers. It offers all the features and is as efficient as any standalone GPS device.

In spite of the efficiency with which they work, one cannot help but wonder how these netbooks with GPS devices will fare with the customers. Is it actually feasible to use a netbook as a GPS device; in spite of netbooks being small? Some people feel that carrying it around or using it in the car to find routes may not be all that easy, especially when a cellphone can make the same job much easier.

However, these GPS enabled netbooks may prove to be helpful for international travelers. According to Sicher, “If you are traveling to Europe roaming costs can be pretty pricey for your cellphone. The GPS netbooks could also be handy in areas where cellphone coverage is weak.”

Another point that has to be noted is that although the turn-by-turn directions navigation software on the netbook will be free for people who buy the card and the netbook, the maps are expected to be updated on a yearly basis and customers may be charged for these updates.

Dell is going all out to make this a success and like TomTom, is also offering accessories, such as a dock for the netbooks and a car charger. Dell says it will make the Wireless 700 option available for Windows Vista and Windows 7 computers, as well as for other Dell systems and not just the Mini 10.

With the inclusion of GPS, the netbook now provides much more value for money and this may take off with the customers just the way Dell hopes it would.

When we think of video on the internet, the first thing that comes to mind is the Mogul of video, YouTube. No doubt YouTube’s popularity is unparalleled. There is certainly nothing wrong with YouTube and they have the distinction of spearheading the video sharing revolution. However, it is not necessarily the only site that can be used for posting videos on the Web.

Even if you decide to check out different video sharing sites, where would you go? Different people have different needs; while some have memories to store, others may wish to make a quick buck.

Here is a list of some video sharing sites which allow sharing of the videos and much more.

Tubemogul.com: This is a service that is provided by an online distribution and video analytics company. It helps marketers measure the impact their online marketing campaigns have. It allows uploading of video to all the main video sharing websites at one go. Users are also provided stats of when, where and how often their videos are watched. The most beautiful feature is the ability to track viewer demographics and geographics. With 100 MB being the upload limit, the major sites that are supported by this service are YouTube, MySpace video, AOL video, Google video, Yahoo video , Revver and Metacafe.

Break.com: Who would not want to have the added advantage of earning some cash for uploading a video? Their cash rewards go up to $2000 if it is selected for their homepage and $25 if it shows up in their gallery. In fact, this is a wonderful way of weeding out the garbage people upload into the virtual world day in and day out. There are many fans of this site, even if the buffer rate is said to be slightly slower when compared to other video sharing sites. Its clutter-free interface, in-built brightness and contrast controls, in-built sharing options and the ability to watch videos on dedicated channels are some of the features liked by all.

Metacafe.com: This is among the more famous video sharing websites around. The buffering rate is fast and it has a built-in rewind and forward options. A most-liked feature is that videos can be added to a Skype mood message. There is also a “Family safe mode” that filters out all the adult content, preventing children from logging on in the absence of adults and viewing videos they should not. This is also a great tool for amateur filmmakers, looking for a medium to showcase their talent. “Directors Cut” in the Metacafe Pro is a channel that is dedicated to such people. Videos can be installed directly without any web browser.

Dailymotion.com: This site is innovative and stands apart from a regular video sharing site. The channels include music, films, games, sports, college etc. The buffer rate is supposed to be good too. The “VideoWall” feature allows users to display up to 81 videos on their sites and the “Jukebox” allows videos to be broadcasted according to the selected criteria. Users can also restrict access of their videos only to friends.

Revver.com: The first viral video sharing website that features animation, gaming, comedy, webisodes and videos. The best part about this site is that it also pays for video uploads, not only those that belong to the user. This means users have the option to share any video they like, even if it is posted by someone else, and earn a share in the revenue. Videos can be located by the “most viewed” and “most commented.” A Revver widget can be used on the users’ blogs, and this gives the ability to share multiple videos at a time. Another great feature is the “Live video,” where users can chat and receive live feeds of people online. The only drawback as some users said was the buffer rate, which is not great as there is no continuous streaming.

There are several other sites that can be checked out too; such as jumpcut.com, eyespot.com, video.google.com and funnyordie.com. With so many options for video sharing and each one having its own innovative features, it becomes worthwhile trying the others too and who knows there may be some feature that is of value and gets the users hooked.