Weird: Amazon’s Latest Tax Collection Avoidance Plan For Texas.

Texas Tribune via The New York Times outlined the latest in the Amazon sales tax collection plan for the Lone Star State. As you will recall, Amazon was charged $269 million for sales taxes it was supposed to have collected from Texas buyers, the result of its having a major distribution plant in Irving. But shelve that one for a moment. Amazon has a new proposal, ostensibly to make that tax bill go away. It’s promised to create 6,000 new jobs and spend some $300 million on five or six shiny new warehouses and distribution plants in Texas if the state will give it a pass on collecting sales taxes for 4 ½ years. Exceptin’ the taxes would still have to be paid. By us. Texans who buy Amazon products would have to remit the sales tax owed on these purchases directly to the state.  Not exactly one-click shopping. Plus, how on earth would this be enforced? And, rather than write a check for 8.25% of your purchase directly to the state, wouldn’t that make you want to shop online at Barnes & Noble or, even better, patronize one of the few remaining independents in Texas?  In which case I am all for it.