Re: Oh noes, sales taxes are too complicated!!1!
"Amazon requires sellers to provide state tax registration numbers..."
You forgot to mention you also have to go to every state (I assume most have online registration) and acquire a tax registration number and hand it to Amazon so they can sell you the service. Does a little trinket maker in Vermont need tax registrations numbers in all 50 states just to sell their wares online?
The reason companies like Vertex exist is because it's too difficult for a small mom and pop shop to do keep up with all the rules. Saying that Rocko and his computer will gladly protect you from the California tax man - for a nominal fee, isn't much help.
Why does the seller have to sweat California's 'sales/use tax' on a nail file purchased by a California resident in Hong Kong? Why does California get a cut of business that was transacted outside of California? Why is the "internet", not the Californet, any different from Hong Kong? Why wasn't California taxing mail order/catalog sales forty years ago and why is the internet different? Well, we know that one since it's seen as a cash cow to cover the state's hyper-zealous spending that mail order never was, granted they will play the protectionist card and say it isn't fair to regular bricks and mortar stores but we know better than to buy what the state is selling.