The recession has led to belt-tightening all around, including tax increases and spending cuts to balance state and local budgets.

Further, the City of New York, under the leadership of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has done a pretty good job closing its budget deficit, while maintaining essential public services.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) is likely facing additional sales tax challenges in eight states besides New York. The New York issue has been well-publicized, with the state imposing new rules that would make Amazon subject to sales tax there because of the presence of affiliates.

Normally, sales tax must be collected by a retailer only if that retailer has nexus (usually a physical presence) in a state in which an item is sold. In the past, nexus generally meant that the company had physical operations there, so the change in New York law, which now includes the presence of affiliates, is a big change. But courts also have ruled that the physical presence test is not the only way to create nexus.

The new wrinkle in the sales tax issue has to do with the distributions centers Amazon has around the country. The WSJ says [subscription required] that there are eight states with Amazon warehouses or distribution centers, but that Amazon has avoided collecting sales tax in those states by operating the facilities as subsidiaries of the parent company. Sales tax laws have permitted this exception when a facility is part of a separate legal entity.

Last week, Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) filed a lawsuit in New York over the state's new law, which requires online retailers to collect sales tax from New York customers if the company has affiliates in the state soliciting sales for them.

Most state laws only require sales tax to be collected in a state if a company has a nexus, or physical presence there. Most states require purchasers of products who haven't paid sales tax on the items to voluntarily report the purchases to the state and pay use tax on them (the equivalent of sales tax). As you can imagine, in the government's eyes, this leaves plenty of tax money on the table as consumers rarely report these purchases to their home states and therefore avoid sales and use tax altogether.

New York's new law is a move to collect taxes on these sales, but it has angered Amazon.com and other companies. Affiliate programs are important to increase sales, as the "affiliates" are basically people and businesses who refer others to Amazon.com to make purchases. Amazon.com fought back, and now perpetual money-loser Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) is fighting back in its own way. Overstock is canceling its agreements with all of their affiliates in New York. If New York is going to use that affiliate relationship in order to impose sales tax on internet sales going to New York, then darn it, Overstock.com is going to show them!

The United States is an enormous, diverse nation, and there's perhaps no better evidence of that than the U.S.'s current economic cycle.

The finances of many states have deteriorated to such a degree that they appear to be in recession, even though the nation as a whole may not be, a survey of 50 state fiscal directors concluded.

The states: budget deficits abound

The National Conference of State Legislatures' survey says that "arguing whether the national economy is in recession is almost beside the point" because the fiscal condition of some states has declined so much that they appear to be in a recession.

In all, 23 states, including hard-hit housing slump states Florida, California, and Nevada, expect to report budget deficits in the next fiscal year, fiscal 2009, with the aggregate revenue shortfall reaching $26 billion. Further, more than two-thirds of the states said they are concerned or pessimistic regarding their F2009 revenue outlook.

Historically, most states experience a decline in revenue as the U.S. economy contracts, as the economic slowdown results in lower retail sales, which lowers sales tax revenue -- a major source of revenue for many states. Job layoffs also decrease state income tax revenue. Further, state social service costs typically increase, as unemployment claims increase and applications for income/food/energy assistance rise.

Florida, California hard hit

Economist Peter Dawson told BloggingStocks Friday the NCSL data is in-line with the profile of this cycle's economic slowdown. "From the research we can see that the states under most stress are those that rank very high regarding mortgage default and housing foreclosure lists, with Florida and California being the most obvious examples," Dawson said. "These states are going to be under fiscal stress for a considerable period of time due to the size of their housing correction."

Moreover, Dawson said because of California's and Florida's size, "it will be very hard for the nation to grow at capacity until these states have started to grow." Hence, a return to robust economic conditions nationally, "could be a year to 18 months off, assuming growth resumes nationally by late 2008," he said.