California voters prepare: Amazon.com Inc. has announced that the California Attorney General's Office has approved its petition for a referendum that will let voters decide whether or not to overturn a new law that forces online retailers to collect sales taxes in the state.

There has been a large amount of criticism pointed towards Amazon as of late for simply abandoning their affiliates and branches located in California in the face of this law. The law forces online retailers, like Amazon, to collect California sales taxes by expanding what it means to have a physical presence in the state. This includes cases where an online retailer has a related company, such as a marketing arm or an affiliate, within the state. Amazon's planning strategy has focused much attention on avoiding states where sales taxes would be collected, so when the law passed Amazon wanted to get out of dodge.


The law is projected to help California collect an additional $200 million annually. On the other side of the coin, Amazon says that the referendum aims to support jobs and investment in the state. In order for Amazon to bring its measure before voters in the next statewide vote in February, the company must gather over 500,000 signatures by late September.