Legal

Amazon has threatened to sever ties with more than 10,000 affiliates in California amid a dispute with the state over proposed taxation of internet purchases. Four state proposals aimed at forcing Seattle-based Amazon to collect taxes from residents may be unconstitutional and lead to job losses, Paul Misener, Amazon’s vice president for global public policy, wrote in a letter to the California Board of Equalization.

Blockbuster has agreed to be purchased by a group of debt holders for as much as $290 million as part of a bankruptcy auction, according to Businessweek.com.

According to the National Retail Federation's 2011 Tax Returns Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, 13.2 percent of Americans will spend their refund on a big-ticket item. But with the economy also serving as a reminder that it’s best to be financially prepared for the worst, more people will also put their refunds away for a rainy day.

The rapid growth in internet sales is great for online retailers, but it's bad news for state and local governments as many online purchases don’t have any sales tax attached to them. Long before the internet was on anybody’s radar, the Supreme Court ruled that states couldn’t require that retailers without a physical presence in a state, like mail-order companies, charge sales tax on their behalf.

Chinese e-commerce supplier Alibaba says two of its top executives are resigning to take responsibility after a probe discovered more 2,326 suppliers had defrauded online customers. Alibaba said in a notice this morning that its chief executive and chief operating officers, who were not implicated by the investigation, were resigning to take responsibility for the company's "breakdown in integrity."

Target has updated its corporate donation policy following a corporate review that occurred in the wake of the backlash surrounding the company’s $150,000 donation last summer to a group that ran ads supporting Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, according to the Minneapolis/St.Paul Buisness Journal.

LivingSocial is being sued by two Seattle residents who claim its mobile and online offers violate federal and state gift card laws and Washington's Consumer Protection Act.

Consumers have filed lawsuits against more than a dozen national retail chains operating in California since the state Supreme Court ruled it's illegal for clerks to ask customers for their ZIP codes.

The average combined U.S. sales and use tax rate for 2010 hit a new record average of 9.64 percent, compared to the previous record of 8.63 percent in 2009, according to the annual Sales Tax Rate Report for 2010 issued by Vertex Inc.

Fabric and craft store chain Jo-Ann Stores said that after a nearly two-month "go-shop" period, it's received no other takeover bids, and therefore will ask shareholders to vote on the company's proposed $1.6 billion sale to Leonard Green & Partners LP.