Online retailers, including Amazon, who use affiliates, sales people, subsidiaries or have some other form of nexus in Pennsylvania must begin collecting Pennsylvania sales tax September 1, 2012.
Remote Seller Requirements
In December 2011, Pennsylvania issued a tax bulletin giving remote sellers until February 1, 2012 to comply with Pennsylvania tax law.
The bulletin specified that remote, or out-of-state, sellers must collect Pennsylvania sales tax if they engage in ". . . any activity . . . through a subsidiary, representative or an agent...." Furthermore, ". . . it does not matter whether the representatives are regular employees of the company, or are independent contractors hired by the company."
However, several e-commerce businesses asked for Pennsylvania to extend the compliance date, and as a result, Pennsylvania gave remote sellers until September 1, 2012 to comply.
Amazon
Amazon is one of the companies required to begin collecting sales tax because it has six fulfillment centers in Pennsylvania. The company has indicated that they plan to comply starting September 1.
Amazon spokesperson, Scott Stanzel stated "We believe that customers (in Pennsylvania) will continue to come to Amazon because we offer the best prices with or without sales tax." However, he also noted that Amazon believes that online sales tax questions should be addressed by federal legislation.
According to Stanzel, Amazon currently collects sales tax in Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, New York, Texas and Washington. The company plans to begin collecting in California on September 15, 2012.
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