SC customers get reminders on Amazon sales tax

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Amazon customers in South Carolina are starting to receive email notices informing them that they owe the state money.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reports (http://bit.ly/wbL45t ) that the online retail giant is sending out reminders that customers who made purchases last year still have to pay sales tax, even though Amazon doesn’t collect it.

The arrangement is part of a deal worked out when Amazon announced plans to build a distribution center in the state. Companies with online stores as well as physical locations in South Carolina, like Barnes & Noble, have to collect sales tax.

Amazon got a five-year exemption from that requirement, but is reminding customers they owe taxes to the state. Amazon does not give information on customers’ purchases to the state, however.

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com