Amazon Tax Update: Litigation in NC and Colorado
The State of North Carolina has been aggressively trying to apply its 2009 Amazon-tax law retroactively and has been seeking information from etailers on sales transactions from 2003-2009. Amazon, who initially cooperated with the state, has filed a lawsuit arguing that the state’s request for information on the identity of in-state purchasers violates federal law and the First Amendment. The move comes just as the state has launched a sales tax amnesty program for online retailers.
The Direct Marketing Association and American Catalog Mailers Association are planning to challenge the constitutionality of Colorado’s new law requiring all out-of-state online retailers that do not collect sales tax on purchases made by Colorado residents to report to the state each year the name, address and amount purchased for each Colorado customer and also to send an annual notice to each Colorado customer detailing their purchases from the prior year and reminding them of their obligation to pay state sales tax.
More Info: Retailers Mobilize To Challenge Colorado Online Sales Tax Law, Internet Retailer; In a State’s Search for Sales Tax, Amazon Raises Privacy Concerns, New York Times
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