Amazon.com has reached a tentative deal with the State of California and brick-and-mortar retailers to drop its opposition to the state's new Internet sales tax on the condition it support a federal Internet sales tax, McClatchy Newspapers reported.
In exchange, Amazon will not have to pay sales taxes on sales to residents of California until September 2012 at the earliest. As part of the deal, Amazon agrees to throw its weight behind efforts by Wal-Mart and Barnes & Noble to lobby Congress for a national Internet sales tax.
In July California's General Assembly passed a law correcting loopholes that allowed online retailers who sell $4 billion annually to California residents without collecting and submitting sales taxes. Lawmakers estimate the law will raise $200 million in annual revenue.
If no federal deal emerges by July 31, 2012, Amazon would have to begin collecting California sales taxes starting on Sept. 15, 2012, McClatchy reported. California's General Assembly, meanwhile, has agreed to pass a new bill by the end of the week that would delay implementation of the state's new online sales tax law until that date. If a federal deal does emerge by July 31, 2012, online retailers would begin collecting taxes starting on Jan. 1, 2013, under whatever federal requirements are approved.
The agreement comes a week after Amazon offered to build distribution centers in California that would create 7,000 jobs if the state would exempt them from the new sales tax. Amazon was widely condemed for that offer.
