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Amazon to collect sales tax from Massachusetts residents starting next fall

Amazon to collect sales tax from Massachusetts residents starting next fall

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amazon box stock 1020
amazon box stock 1020

It was fun while it lasted, Massachusetts: as of next year, Amazon will begin charging sales tax on orders placed by state residents. The news comes courtesy of Governor Deval Patrick, whose administration has been pressuring Amazon to start collecting from Massachusetts customers ever since the company acquired Kiva Systems — based inside the state — earlier this year. That, combined with a forthcoming office in Cambridge have effectively eliminated Amazon's typical stance in these situations. Amazon has long maintained that it shouldn't have to charge taxes in states where it doesn't have a physical presence, an argument that's obviously become harder to make with its recent business manuevers.

Massachusetts is just the latest in a long list of states that have seen the gradual implementation of sales tax in recent years. Still, it's not all bad; caving to the demands of state officials could eventually allow the online retailer to build out an even more robust operation throughout the US and, despite its current struggles to do so, provide same-day delivery on a wide scale.