It works like this: Online (and traditional mail-order) companies don’t collect or pay sales taxes in states where they have no locations. If they do have a location within the state, then they are supposed to collect and pay sales tax. Except for Amazon, which has consistently refused to collect sales tax, even in Texas, where it operates a distribution center. Last year, the state presented Amazon with a $269 million tax bill and the online retailer threatened to pull out. Now, in what some are calling a Hail Mary pass, Amazon has offered to bring 5,000 new jobs to Texas if the state will exempt it from sales tax for four-and-a-half years. READ MORE
