Amazon has begun taxing New York

Posted June 2, 2008 at 01:21 PM by Robert Nelson

Section: Web, Websites

Fortune is reporting that the New York State sales tax will be applied to all Amazon purchases beginning on June 1. This new rule will mean that New York residents will no longer be able to enjoy those tax free purchases, at least on Amazon. Of course even though Amazon, and other online retailers have not been charging tax at the time of purchase, New York state has, since 2003 required that residents claim any “untaxed out-of-state purchases.” However the failure to report those purchases alone would not have raised “enough concern to prosecute anybody.”

In the past the rule has always been that, as long as their was not a physical store location in that state, then the online retailer was not required to charge the state sales tax. With New York State breaking ground on this change, we can only hope that other states do not begin to follow. Not being in New York myself I am unable to confirm this did in fact go in effect. Amazon currently charges sales tax in five states to include Washington, North Dakota, Kentucky, Kansas and New York.

Via [Fortune]