Amazon has already pulled up stakes (or refused to put them down, in some cases) in several states over disputes involving the collection of sales taxes. It's not that the company refuses outright to collect taxes; it does so in Europe and elsewhere, but it refuses to deal with measures it views as unconstitutional under current federal law.
Appearing yesterday at the headquarters of Consumer Reports, Mr. Bezos said, "In the U.S., the constitution prohibits states from interfering in interstate commerce." His company and others should only be required to collect sales tax in states where they have a physical presence or "nexus," he said. Amazon rejects the argument that affiliates represent a local presence for the e-tailer.
Mr. Bezos also disputed the notion that his company plays by a different set of rules from brick and mortar retailers that sell goods online.
"Our point-of-view on this is that we should simplify the sales tax system, and we've been insisting on this for 10 years. We support the streamlined sales tax initiative, and 22 states have signed on. The right way to fix this is with federal legislation," Mr. Bezos told Consumer Reports. "Sales tax is very complicated. We're no different from big chains of retailers. They don't collect sales tax in states where they don't have nexus either. So everyone is following the same rules."
While Mr. Bezos expressed a willingness to collect sales tax where Amazon has a physical presence, the company recently pulled plans to open distribution centers in South Carolina when it was unable to get legislation passed that would exempt it from doing so.
The House in South Carolina voted 71 - 47 to reject a tax exemption for the company. The state's new governor, Nikki Haley, did not support the exemption that was negotiated by her predecessor Mark Stanford.
"As a result of today's unfortunate House vote, we've canceled $52 million in procurement contracts and removed all South Carolina fulfillment center job postings from our (web)site," Paul Misener, Amazon vice president for global public policy, told The State newspaper at the time.