> I think this is exactly how Uber will fade into irrelevance.
Like Amazon? Because they used to break rules left, right, and centre. Their competitive advantage, in their early years, was ignoring tax law. The difference was that Bezos was smart enough to hedge against the day he'd have to comply, and to diversify.
Most online/catalog companies don't collect sales tax and leave it up to buyers to pay usage tax [which is legal absent a physical nexus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quill_Corp._v._North_Dakota]. This remains the case. Amazon just got pressured into collecting because they're so big and have affiliate sales programs.
The way Amazon was ignoring tax law was that they operated warehouses in states while claiming that they had no physical nexus in them, by using shell companies.
I may be wrong but as I remember it, the dispute was over whether affiliates constituted a physical presence. They collected where they had actual warehouses.
Like Amazon? Because they used to break rules left, right, and centre. Their competitive advantage, in their early years, was ignoring tax law. The difference was that Bezos was smart enough to hedge against the day he'd have to comply, and to diversify.