Harrisburg, PA Business Formation and Planning Law Blog

A couple of months ago, in our Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Business Formation and Planning Law Blog, we wrote about new sales tax regulations affecting the tax structure of online businesses in the commonwealth.

The new tax is in accordance with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that companies with a physical presence in Pennsylvania, such as Amazon.com, may be be required to collect a 6 percent sales tax. In the earlier blog entry, we noted that the tax regulation would go into effect Feb. 1; the start date has now been pushed back to Sept. 1.

Online shopping is an increasingly popular and convenient alternative to buying items in retail stores. As customers submit their personal data to internet retailers, the companies make a promise that the sensitive information is secured. That is a condition Pennsylvania consumers take very seriously, and so do the online companies that provide them with the goods they want. In an ongoing case of business litigation, a woman is taking internet shoe retailer Zappos.com, and its parent company Amazon.com, to court under claims that the woman was harmed by a recent breach of personal information.

Zappos officials let customers and employees know, in an e-mail, that customer names, e-mail addresses and phone numbers had leaked. The Nevada-based company made it very clear to its customers that no credit card information had been stolen by hackers who illegally gained access to internal servers.

Contract disputes can be very costly and time-consuming. In Pennsylvania and West Virginia this week, more than 200 pipeline con­struc­tion work­ers walked off their jobs following a heated contract dispute.

Negotiations between the Pipe Line Con­trac­tors Asso­ci­a­tion and the Teamsters reportedly fell through over pro­pos­als to change retire­ment processes for the Teamsters. The Teamster contract expired Dec. 31, and the Pipe Line Contractors Association wants the Teamsters to accept 401k savings plans that would take place of pension benefits, according to news reports.

One of the best predictors of successful business formation is a solid organizational structure and startup plan. A Pennsylvania nonprofit recently announced a contest that will award funding to promising technology-based business ventures.

The "Big Idea" contest is sponsored by the Pennsylvania-based Ben Franklin Venture Investment Program. The person or group who submits the best business plan for a technology-based company will be awarded $50,000, according to a recent news report. The money is to be used to start or develop a technology-oriented business.