Online retailer, Amazon.com, settled its $269 million sales tax dispute with Texas officials after its Securities and Exchanges Commission filing on April 20, according to an article by Yahoo! News. The company had shut its Irving-based distribution center last year after receiving the tax bill from Texas Comptroller Susan Combs in 2010 claiming it did not owe anymore taxes to the state.
The state and the company came to a joint settlement that requires Amazon to bring in at least 2,500 jobs and $200 million is capital investments for Texas. The settlement was reached after Gov. Rick Perry denounced Combs’ bill and said it would cause a job loss in the state and deter other companies from moving to Texas.
Amazon has complained that it is difficult for online retailers to accurately collect taxes due to the differentiating state and local taxes. Combs and Amazon’s Vice President of Global Public Policy Paul Misener said they would help Congress devise a plan to set a standard, national sales tax agreement for online retailers because they don’t have to collect sales taxes the same way as local merchants.
“Congress should enact federal legislation that will give states access to revenues that are already due, which would resolve this issue fairly for all retailers and all states,” Combs told Yahoo! News.
-Dustin Bass, @dbass_cmn
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