Amazon Sellers Brood as States Come Calling for Taxes<br />Most states take the position that having their inventory in a warehouse, even if the facility<br />belongs to Amazon, creates a duty to charge sales tax on marketplace sales in those states.<br />Amazon recently warned its sellers that the company, as of Jan. 1, would be collecting sales tax from merchants<br />who ship orders to its home state, Washington, as it seeks to comply with a state law signed in July.<br />Amazon pays hundreds of millions of dollars annually in income taxes and charges tax on the sale of its own goods in every state that has a sales tax.<br />Many of the merchants said they have received conflicting advice on their sales tax obligations from accountants<br />and lawyers, according to interviews with several individual merchants and consultants who work with dozens of sellers each.<br />That will be the first time Amazon has collected a state sales tax for the merchants known as marketplace sellers on its site.<br />He said he believed the reason Amazon has been reluctant to step in and charge sales tax on marketplace orders is<br />that it could assume a large additional liability for any mistakes the sellers make.
