Amazon's Texas customers to start paying sales tax

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Houston Chronical:

Amazon.com will start collecting sales taxes on all online purchases made in Texas beginning July 1 under an agreement that settles a dispute with the state.

Comptroller Susan Combs said the terms address a long-standing complaint by businesses that the online leviathan gets an unfair advantage by not having to assess the tax. She said Texas loses perhaps $600 million a year in potential revenue to Internet sales from all sources.

The deal announced Friday, Combs said, will "level the playing field" with the Web's biggest retailer.

 

Seattle-based Amazon agreed not only to start collecting sales taxes but also to create at least 2,500 new jobs in Texas over the next four years and make at least $200 million in capital investments in the state.

 

It was seventh voluntary tax-collection agreement Amazon has reached with a state. The others go into effect between this year and 2016.

 

In addition, Combs said her office has been working with the Texas congressional delegation about a possible national solution. She predicted federal legislation to address the sales-tax issue for online retailers is forthcoming.

"I think there is a momentum growing for this," she said.

 

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This pretty much means price of internet goods is going to go up, in our case 8%ish. Amazon has put in place the computer system to process this and is "offering" other retailers the "chance" to participate in tax collection for a small fee.