New Yorkers face income taxes, real estate taxes, sales tax and now – sales tax on the internet.

New Yorkers must now pay sales tax on goods purchased on Amazon.com and Overstock.com. Amazon.com Inc., the largest online retailer in the world, and Overstock.com Inc., recently lost a challenge to the New York Internet Sales tax law in the New York State Court of Appeals.

In an effort to overturn a law requiring online retailers to pay sales

tax if they solicit customer’s in New York, Amazon and Overstock separately sued the NYS Department of Finance and Taxation in 2008. Both suits were dismissed by a New York State Supreme Court in 2009, and an Appeals Court in Manhattan affirmed the ruling in 2010.

NYS Commissioner of Taxation and Finance said the internet sales tax law has resulted in the collection of approximately $500 million in state and local tax, which is equivalent to about $6 billion of taxable retail sales into New York.

According to the company’s website, most items sold by Amazon.com, or its subsidiaries, and shipped to New York, Arizona, California, Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington, are subject to sales tax. Gift cards purchased online, however, are still not subject to sales tax.

This ruling impacts all New Yorkers, but especially those who rely on the internet to purchase goods because of mobility issues, and those who are on a fixed income.