Beginning Feb. 1, online retailer Amazon will start collecting taxes in North Carolina. It's yet unclear why Amazon decided to take this move and whether it would start collecting taxes from other states in the US. Amazon's spokesman, Drew Herdener was not available for questioning on the move and what the Seattle-based company was planning to do next.
Back in the year 2010, Amazon took to court N.C Department of Revenue after it tried to acquire addresses and names of North Carolina customers that buy products from them. The court ruled against the N.C and later settled with the online retailer. The ACLU which is a non-profit organization claimed that the move to acquire these details would link online customers to products they purchase from Amazon, disclosing DVDs, names of books and other products bought online.
It's not yet clear why Amazon had this sudden change of course.
Most online retailers hardly charge taxes in states where they don't have a physical store or operations. An estimate carried out in the year 2010 said that most cities and countries lose up to $190 million each year from failure to pay sales tax.
Another study done by The National Council of State Legislatures indicates that some US states lost over $20 billion after they were legally prohibited from collecting taxes from Amazon and other retailer operating from the internet.
Online shopping has surged over the last few years leading to an increase in efforts to collect taxes from internet retailers. People are anxiously waiting for a reply from Amazon's spokesperson on the matter.