Amazon has struck a deal to start collecting sales tax Feb. 1 from its customers in North Carolina, according to the News & Observer newspaper of Raleigh.
North Carolina assesses a state sales tax of 4.75 percent, but the state’s residents generally pay 6.25 to 7.5 percent due to additional city and county sales taxes. Amazon had already agreed to start collecting sales taxes in South Carolina starting in 2016. The online retailer has now reached such agreements with 19 states, often after agreeing to invest millions of dollars and hire thousands of workers to build and run distribution centers that provide same-day delivery within a certain radius.
The agreement comes as the National Retail Federation and hundreds of other retail organizations, brands, trade associations and governments push the U.S. House of Representatives to approve the Marketplace Fairness Act, which was passed last year by the Senate. The bill would clear the way for states to force out-of-state retailers to begin collecting and remitting taxes on sales made to their residents over the Internet, telephone or via the mail their residents.
