Amazon.com LLC v. Lay

Filing 55

Second DECLARATION of Jennifer Galbreath filed by Plaintiff Amazon.com LLC re 44 MOTION for Summary Judgment (Caplow, Steven)

Amazon.com LLC v. Lay

Doc. 55

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
SECOND DECL. OF JENNIFER GALBREATH-- 1

THE HONORABLE MARSHA J. PECHMAN

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) KENNETH R. LAY, in his official capacity as ) Secretary of the North Carolina Department of ) Revenue, ) ) ) Defendant. ) ) ) AMAZON.COM LLC No. 10-CV-00664 SECOND DECLARATION OF JENNIFER GALBREATH IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT NOTE ON MOTION CALENDAR: August 6, 2010

I, Jennifer Galbreath, declare under the penalty of perjury as follows: 1. I have previously submitted a declaration in this matter in support of the

motion for summary judgment of Plaintiff Amazon.com LLC ("Amazon"). I have personal knowledge of the matters referred to in this declaration, either directly or based on due diligence and reasonable inquiry, including my review of Amazon's business records. If called as a witness, I am competent to testify to those matters. 2. Amazon uses an Amazon Standard Identification Number, or "ASIN," to

identify each product in its catalog and its systems. Sales information for each product is stored by ASIN as well.

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
LAW OFFICES Suite 2200 1201 Third Avenue [phone]
Seattle, Washington 98101- 30 45 Fax: [phone]

Dockets.Justia.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3.

The ASIN level sales report that Amazon gave to North Carolina's Department

of Revenue is the same report format Amazon has provided in other sales tax audits. To the best of my knowledge, North Carolina is the first state to demand Amazon produce personally identifiable customer information (names and addresses). 4. Amazon collects sales tax only in Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, New York

and Washington. To facilitate the collection and payment of these taxes, starting in 2008, in addition to ASINs, Amazon began to assign "product taxability codes" ("PTCs") of the sort

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 5. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
SECOND DECL. OF JENNIFER GALBREATH-- 2
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
LAW OFFICES Suite 2200 1201 Third Avenue [phone]
Seattle, Washington 98101- 30 45 Fax: [phone]

cited by DOR in its papers, specifically tailored to the particulars of the tax laws in each of these five states. These codes were developed and assigned to products specifically at the level of detail necessary for the taxability requirements of Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, New York and Washington, respectively. The overwhelming majority of the items sold even in these states are coded with the "general merchandise" PTC because there are no special taxability rules applicable to those items. Amazon does not assign or maintain PTCs at the level of detail necessary to

determine taxability in any state in which Amazon does not collect sales tax, including North Carolina. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. s/ Jennifer Galbreath_________ Jennifer Galbreath Senior Tax Manager, Indirect Taxes Amazon.com, Inc. Dated: Seattle, Washington August 6, 2010

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 1 2 3 4 5 DATED this 6th day of August, 2010. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
SECOND DECL. OF JENNIFER GALBREATH-- 3
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
LAW OFFICES Suite 2200 1201 Third Avenue [phone]
Seattle, Washington 98101- 30 45 Fax: [phone]

I hereby certify that on August 6, 2010, I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/ECF system, which will send notification of such filing to all parties listed to receive electronic notice in this case.

DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE LLP By: s/ Steven P. Caplow ___________ Steven P. Caplow, WSBA #19843 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 2200 Seattle, Washington 98101-3045 Tel.: [phone] Fax: [phone] E-mail: [e-mail]