States Should Not Allow Amazon.com to Bully Them into Forgoing Sales Tax Reform
reportIn just the last few weeks, Arkansas and Illinois joined New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island in enacting legislation requiring some online retailers, like Amazon.com, to collect sales taxes on purchases made by their state’s residents. Vermont’s House of Representatives recently passed similar legislation, and Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Texas are considering doing the same. Unfortunately, Amazon.com has been fighting these proposals tooth and nail, doing everything in its power to make this sensible reform as unpalatable as possible. State lawmakers should not allow themselves to be intimidated by Amazon’s aggressive tactics.