Amazon Ignores Georgia’s New Sales Tax Fairness Law

On January 1, 2013, Georgia’s affiliate nexus law went into effect, requiring online retailers with affiliates in the state to collect and remit sales tax to the state. But at least one high-profile company is still ignoring Georgia’s new sales tax law: Amazon.com.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “repeated checks of Amazon.com” showed that the online retailing giant is not asking Georgia residents to pay sales tax on purchases. It is conceivable that Amazon.com’s refusal to comply with the law may result in a court battle with the state, AJC reported. The article noted that the state was aware that Amazon.com was not collecting but would not disclose what it is doing about it.

However, Ryan Teague, executive counsel to Gov. Nathan Deal, told AJC: “Our expectation is that the law would be abided by.”

Amazon’s behavior is hardly surprising to ABA CEO Oren Teicher. “For a decade or more, Amazon has profited at the expense of communities nationwide by depleting much-needed sales tax revenue from states and cities while trying to maintain a significant competitive advantage over Main Street retailers,” Teicher said. “We urge the State of Georgia to do what is necessary to ensure that Amazon.com complies with its new law, just as it would with any Georgia retailer that ignored a state law.”

Despite Amazon.com’s actions in Georgia, Teicher stressed that over the past five years, the campaign for sales tax fairness has made great strides all across the country. In addition to state legislation, efforts in Congress to enact a federal solution to this problem has gained widespread bipartisan support and various Main Street Fairness bills are expected to be reintroduced in Congress over the coming weeks.