Guardian critic Tim Adams, goes in search of Scott Pack, who — as head buyer for UK bookselling giant Waterstone’s — seems to be spoken of in hushed tones:

I was talking to a few publishers in London about an idea I’d had for a book, partly, pointedly, about mid-life underachievement. Mostly, they liked the idea, but a single name seemed to dog my progress. ‘You have to understand,’ they said, ‘that whatever we think of it, we have to sell it to Scott Pack.’ Or: ‘I think Scott Pack is quite down on this kind of thing at the moment.’ When I asked around I discovered it wasn’t just me. Scott Pack was, it seemed, down on a few of my friends’ ideas, too.

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The AP is reporting on a May 31 court ruling that will require Borders’ online division to pay California state sales tax for internet sales that it made in 1998 and 1999.

Borders argued that it owed no tax because, though the parent company has more than 100 stores in California, its online division has no presence in there. But:

California’s 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco rejected that argument, ruling on May 31 that the Borders’ Web site and retail stores have been too intertwined to call themselves separate companies. The three-judge panel cited in-store advertising for the Web site, receipts that said “Visit us online at www.borders.com” and the ability of customers to return online merchandise at retail stores.

The article speculates on the implications for other retailers:

The decision could lead to similar rulings by the State Board of Equalization against New York-based Barnes and Noble Inc. and maybe even Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc., which handles online sales for Borders and other bricks-and-mortar affiliates, paying them a cut of the profits, said Lenny Goldberg, executive director of the California Tax Reform Association.

Barnes and Noble’s online business certainly seems at risk of receiving a big tax bill from California. Amazon seems exposed. Its Alexa and A9 divisions are both based in California.

If the same argument can be made in other states’ courts, Borders, Barnes and Noble, and other chain retailers with online sales divisions may end up owing back taxes elsewhere. Amazon only has a presence in a handful of states, so they’re likely safe unless a court rules that Amazon’s thousands of Marketplace and Zshops sellers (or Borders for that matter — their website has been managed by Amazon since 2001) can be called its “agents”.

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