Amazon will still not charge sales tax in Alaska, Delaware, Oregon, Montana, or New Hampshire, which don't have state sales taxes.
A 1992 Supreme Court ruling decreed that online vendors can sell goods without collecting sales tax, as long as they don’t have a physical location in a given state. But as Amazon sales grew, states weighed methods for circumventing that ruling. Though most states theoretically require consumers to track and pay sales tax on purchases even if the tax isn't collected by the vendor, that rule has gone largely unenforced, leading to billions in lost revenue for cities and states.
Amazon also enjoyed a significant competitive advantage thanks to its shoppers' tax savings. Amazon has significantly increased the number of U.S. states where it charges sales tax in recent years, though primarily because the expansion of its network of warehouses and fulfillment centers has made it mandatory.
But the latest wave of sales tax changes appears voluntary, and began late last year when Amazon started collecting sales tax for Washington, D.C. Amazon steadily added states from December to March, with the April wave completing the standardization of company policy.
