Amazon and Subsidiaries to Begin Collecting Texas Sales Tax

On Sunday, July 1, under the parameters of a deal struck with the Texas comptroller’s office, Amazon.com will begin collecting and remitting sales tax to Texas for purchases made by state residents. The deal also means that Amazon.com’s many subsidiaries will also begin collecting sales tax on Texas-based orders, as well, as reported by DallasNews.com [1].

In early May, Texas struck a deal with Amazon.com requiring the online retailer to collect and remit sales tax beginning July 1, 2012. The agreement also calls for Amazon.com to create at least 2,500 jobs in the state and to make at least $200 million in capital investments, according to the Dallas News [2].

The deal in Texas also resolved the issue of $269 million in uncollected sales tax, which the comptroller’s office had assessed against Amazon.com for sales made between 2005 and 2009, according to published reports.

The comptroller’s office argued that the retailer’s distribution center, in Irving, Texas, and its subsidiary, Woot.com, constituted nexus in the state. As such, the comptroller asserted, Amazon.com should have been collecting and remitting sales tax to the state. Amazon.com had appealed the assessment. Prior to the sales tax assessment, the American Booksellers Association had contacted the comptroller’s office numerous times regarding the retailer’s refusal to collect sales tax in the state, despite its presence in the state.

Among Amazon’s businesses that will now be collecting sales tax in Texas are Audible.com, Diapers.com, Endless.com, Fabric.com, MyHabit.com, Quidsi, Soap.com, Shopbop, Wag.com, Woot, Yoyo.com, and Zappos.