[ Post a Response | The SteelNavy.Com Message Board ]
Posted by Jon Warneke on August 1, 2025, 6:41:30, in reply to "Re: Quality and price"
Hi Ralph, 
Previous MessageA law got passed that certain large online businesses (biggest example--and the biggest target of the law--was ebay) had to start collecting all state taxes regardless of which state the item was physically bought in. I'm in Massachusetts. If I ordered an item from Tennessee, that Tennessee business had to collect Massachusetts state sales tax from me, and remit it to the state on a regular schedule, if it "qualified" to do so. This only applies to retailers of a certain size/volume which is all spelled out in the law.
Just to let you know, as a Tennessee based business, there is an exemption in the sales tax here for interstate commerce, so I don't have to collect out of state sales tax. The only sales tax I have to collect are from in-state purchases. The Ebay and Amazon issue, at least here in Tennessee, applies to a company that has a "physical presence" within the state. Since Amazon has distribution nodes in Tennessee, they have to collect sales tax. Not really sure about Ebay. If there was no physical presence here, Amazon would not have to collect sales tax for Tennessee residents. Admittedly, it's a quirky law.
Jon
Responses