Wish you were here: Mayor’s tax proposal targets online giants

De Blasio's plan designed to get virtual companies to open stores, offices in NYC

From left: Bill de Blasio and Amazon's Jeff Bezos
From left: Bill de Blasio and Amazon's Jeff Bezos

Mayor Bill de Blasio is aiming to raise taxes on virtual retailers that do business in New York but have no physical presence in the city.

The proposal includes raising taxes on online companies that have yet to open offices in town, Crain’s reported. Businesses without operations in the city have avoided paying taxes on millions of transactions made with customers in New York.

The change would remove the tax break that rewards employers for basing workers outside of New York, Crain’s reported. The idea: to persuade online companies to open up offices and storefronts.

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Wal-Mart and Amazon — which recently leased a 400,000-square-foot space in Brooklyn and a building on West 34th Street — are among the companies that could be affected, the website reported.

The mayor’s proposal would also align the tax treatment of online retailers with that of the state’s. [Crain’s] — Claire Moses