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Reporting from Sacramento — State lawmakers hunting for revenue are eyeing one source that could prove costly to millions of California consumers: Amazon .com.

Amazon announced today that its Associates program is to be terminated in California, in response to a new sales tax bill that was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown. "We oppose this bill because it is unconstitutional and counterproductive. Similar legislation in other states has led to job and income losses, and little, if any, new tax revenue.", Amazon said said in an email to (now former) California Associates.

SACRAMENTO — The days of most tax-free Internet shopping in California are over.

After years of controversy, the world's largest online retailer, Amazon.com Inc., was set to begin collecting state and local sales taxes on California purchases at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Depending on where you live, sales taxes in the state range from 7.25% to 9.75%.

Beginning Friday, Amazon.com and other large out-of-state retailers will be required to collect sales taxes on purchases that their California customers make online.

Amazon.com Inc has taken the first step toward asking California voters to repeal a new law requiring websites that forward shoppers to it to collect sales tax, a spokeswoman for the state's attorney general said on Monday.

DENVER — Amazon.com Inc. cut ties Monday with Colorado online businesses that help it sell products because of a new state law aimed at getting out-of-state, online retailers to collect sales tax.

Lawmakers on Friday sent Gov. Jerry Brown a compromise bill that delays California's effort to force online retailers such as Amazon.com to collect the state's sales taxes while retailers lobby Congress for national rules governing online sales taxes. The compromise between lawmakers, Amazon.com and traditional retailers would delay the expanded online tax collections until at least September 2012. That would give Amazon and other retailers time to lobby Congress for national rules governing online sales taxes.

California Entrepreneur Matt Davies, who set up above-board, taxpaying marijuana cultivation and distribution businesses that employed over 60 people is being prosecuted by the Justice department. The businesses were completely legal under California law, and Davies's lawyers, accountant, and other employees quoted in the article confirm this.

Employers who pay their workers cash under the table to avoid payroll taxes, workers' compensation insurance and other government mandates are costing California about $7 billion annually in lost tax revenue and undercutting companies that play by the rules, state officials say.