If you have used google search today, you will notice  that it blocked out its logo! What’s happening? Google is on strike opposing the “Protect IP Act” (PIPA) and “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA).

Among supporters are News Corp, TimeWarner, Walmart, Mastercard, Comcast, ABC, Chanel, Sony, Nike.

Among opponents are Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia, Craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ebay, AOL, Mozilla.

As an IP technology company, we are strongly against any copyright infringements. We do not and never will knowingly link to any sites that are in violation of any copyrights. More importantly to customers wanting the security of knowing that neither SOPA nor PIPA provisions will ever negatively affect our ability to operate, Online Image publishes only its own generated content and content created by our customers.  We believe it is the responsibility of any publisher, whether on the internet or in print, to respect copyright law and intellectual property rights.  For such internet services, SOPA and PIPA are at worst a non-issue.  In reality these proposed laws are a good first step to prevent irresponsible or offshore criminal entities from stealing content and control from authors.

To know more about SOPA and PIPA facts, please read “SOPA and PIPA: Just the Facts” by Jared Newman, PCWorld.

I called the merchant service company and they told me that if I complete the PCI certification, they will remove the PCI DSS Non Compliance fee, but the PCI DSS compliance admin fee is an ongoing charge.

So what is PCI DSS? Here is what I learned from the PCI Security Standards Council:

PCI Data Security Standard represents a common set of industry tools and measurements to help ensure the safe handling of sensitive information. Initially created by aligning Visa’s Account Information Security (AIS)/Cardholder Information Security (CISP) programs with MasterCard’s Site Data Protection (SDP) program, the standard provides an actionable framework for developing a robust account data security process – including preventing, detecting and reacting to security incidents. The updated version, version 1.1, developed by the founding members of the PCI Security Standards Council, became effective with the launch of the PCI Security Standards Council.

So be sure to complete the certification process. Your merchant account company will tell you how to do it. But be prepared to answer a long list of questions…

I ran into Dream Template who provides website template service through membership. Firstable this website does offer great quality website templates, and they did a great job on copywriting. The subscription fee structure is very attractive, but what caught my eye are their cross-sale and co-marketing techniques.

On the Feature page, I found the following promotion about subscribing to one site, get the free access to other 8 mega sites. It seems to me all other 8 sites are developed by the same company. But instead of creating a “all-in-one” website, they break it into several websites and provide free access to all of them with one single subscription. By targeting a specific market while serving the same group of audience, it’s much easier for online marketing. And more important, it makes subscribers feel that they got a much better deal which ultimately leads to more sales!

The following is a quote from California BOE Publication 105, entitled District Taxes and Delivered Sales:

If you are engaged in business in a special taxing jurisdiction, you must report district taxes on Schedule A of your sales and use tax return. The total tax rate in effect in a special tax district (statewide rate + district rate) generally applies to sales delivered or shipped into the district. However, if you are not engaged in business in the district, you are not required to collect the district use tax. Instead, you may calculate the tax due on your sale at the statewide rate. Generally, if you are not engaged in business in a special tax district and you ship by common carrier into the district, your customer is liable for the district use tax. As a courtesy to your customer, you may choose to collect the district use tax from them.

The above publication provides two options for charging sales tax on sales of tangible goods: (1) Collect the taxes for the counties, city and special districts in which your business has a physical presence, or (2) collect taxes for all the counties and cities districts to which you ship goods.

The first collection option is what California merchants are required to do. If your company has no presence in the destination jurisdiction or district, you only need to collect the statewide tax. If the delivery address is within the same jurisdiction as your business, you need to collect all applicable state, county and city district sales tax rates for the delivery address.

The second collection option is based on destination, regardless of where the seller is located. If the destination is in the same jurisdiction as your company, you collect the applicable statewide, county and city district sales taxes that you are required to pay. If the destination is outside your business’ jurisdiction, in addition to the statewide tax, you also collect and pay any applicable county and city district taxes payable there as a courtesy to your customer.

Following is an example of the sales tax rate for each option:

XYZ Auto Parts is located in the city of San Jose, Santa Clara County. It ships a part to a customer in the city of El Monte, Los Angeles County.

Under the first option, XYZ is required to collect the 8.25% statewide sales tax only.

Under the 2nd option, XYZ will collect the following state and district sales taxes:

State: 8.25%
Los Angeles County: 1.5%
City of El Monte: 0.50%
Total: 10.25%

There are some exceptions for collecting sales tax. Please see full details published on Board of Equalization’s website.

I hope the above example explains the 2 different options you can consider for charging California Sales Tax. Online Image has developed a cutting-edge API product called US Geocoder California Sales Tax API to accommodate these two collection methods. It produces real time sales tax rate for any given California address with 100% sales tax law compliance. All you need to do is to provide delivery address and we return real time sales tax rate! It can be easily integrated with any online store or online shopping cart program. Please go to USgeocoder.com to find out how this unique product keeps you compliant with California Sales tax law!

According to Board of Equalization (BOE), starting 7/1/2011, California statewide sale and use tax rate will decrease by 1%. In areas where there are voter-approved district taxes, the total tax rate related to sales and purchases will be the statewide base tax rate of 7.25 percent plus the applicable district tax.

What if I take the order before 7/1 and ship it after 7/1, what tax rate should I use?
It depends on the date of sale. Here is the answer from BOE:A sale occurs when a customer takes title to or possession of an item. (Not when payment isreceived.) Consequently, sales are generally subject to the applicable tax rate in effect whenthe merchandise is delivered to the customer, unless the contract specifically identifies and passes title to the customer at a different time.

But What if I collected tax at the incorrect rate?
If you incorrectly collect sales tax reimbursement or use tax at the higher tax rate on sales made on or after July 1, 2011, you must return the excess tax collected to your customer or remit it to the state as excess tax reimbursement.

How to handle returned merchandise?
If a customer purchases merchandise before July 1, 2011, but returns it after that date, you should refund tax based on the rate in effect at the time of the sale (that is, the amount you collected from the customer).

See details in BOE’s special notice published on http://www.boe.ca.gov/news/pdf/l277.pdf

While it’s true that Amazon does not have a real presence in California, the sales tax issue is not that simple.

For example, I recently purchased a Star Wars Stormtrooper costume from Amazon.  But it wasn’t actually “shipped and sold”  by Amazon.  Instead, it was shipped and sold by one of Amazon’s affiliate companies and that affiliate is physically located in California. Amazon then took its cut of the sales price and passed on the balance to the affiliate.  But because I made the payment to Amazon, I was not charged sales tax.  Had I bought the costume directly from the California affiliate, it would have been required to collect and pay sales tax.

In effect, Amazon is acting as a sales agent for affiliate companies all over the country, some of which are located in states, such as California, that have a sales tax.  But since the purchase is technically made from a seller outside the taxing state, sales tax is not payable.

I don’t mind paying sales tax if I purchase the goods from a California company.  What I don’t understand is why Amazon does not set up a system in its shopping cart to support collection of sales taxes from residents of states that have a tax.  Or Amazon could let the actual sellers deal with the buyers directly and just charge the selling company a service fee.

We know the answer to this don’t we? The only reason Amazon does anything is that it makes more money that way.  It would no doubt cost Amazon a lot of money to set up a system to collect tax on sales to all the different sales tax states and then forward the money to each state.

Have you ever gotten frustrated with a hosting service provider? If you’re HAPPY with your hosting company, please let me know!

You must have a web server to host your website. You have four types of hosting services to choose from: Shared hosting, dedicated hosting, co-location hosting, and cloud hosting. Shared hosting means your website shares a server with other websites. Dedicated hosting means your website is on a server by itself, so you have full control over it. Co-location is similar to dedicated hosting, except you own your own server. The hosting company just provides internet connectivity and a physical space for the server. Cloud hosting is the latest thing. It provides scalable hosting based on actual usage.

The most important criterion for a good hosting company is technical support. Our company has dealt with many top-rated shared hosting companies. In my experience, when these companies are still small, they are great with excellent technical support, good response, and a very knowledgeable technical staff. But if a small hosting company grows too large or gets bought out by a big company, the quality of technical support always seems to suffer. Then we have to start over again with a different, smaller company.

Technical support is also the biggest headache with a dedicated server host. Often, the support technician you first speak with can’t fix your problem and it gets escalated to a higher level. That’s when you get the big surprise bad news: You have to pay big bucks for this “premium” support service, generally charged by the hour. We once had our account with a big cloud hosting service provider when all of a sudden, we couldn’t log on. It took us almost an hour of searching the web just to find the company’s tech support contact information. And when we finally found it, the company demanded we pay in advance just to contact the technical support department. They didn’t even allow questions by e-mail without charge!