Updated E-Fairness Map: Visual Evidence of Growth of Sales Tax Fairness

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With Amazon now collecting sales tax in Ohio, the American Booksellers Association’s updated E-Fairness Map provides visual proof that more states than not are taking strides to level the playing field for Main Street retailers. 

Amazon is currently collecting sales tax in 25 states, representing 77 percent of the population, according to Tax Justice, which noted that more than three out of every four Americans now live in a state where Amazon willingly collects sales tax. Of the 45 states that collect, 35 have taken action to recoup lost sales tax revenue by passing a law and/or striking a deal with Amazon.com to collect sales tax in exchange for opening a facility. (This could soon rise to 36: Louisiana’s legislature passed an e-fairness law that has not yet been signed by the governor.)  

Eleven of the states where Amazon is collecting sales tax have affiliate nexus laws in effect today that require remote retailers with online affiliates in the state to collect and remit the tax. Michigan and Nevada have passed affiliate nexus laws that go into effect on October 1, 2015, but Amazon already collects in Nevada because it has a warehouse facility in the state.

The many colors on the E-Fairness Map are a testament to the different methods employed by states to recoup required sales tax revenue. States in blue on the map, such as Missouri, have passed affiliate nexus laws but since Amazon has fired its affiliates in those states, the online retailer does not collect.

States noted in green on the map have passed an affiliate nexus and/or warehouse nexus law and Amazon has agreed to collect and remit sales tax. In most cases, Amazon has agreed to collect because it has a facility in the state or has agreed to open one in the near future.

States noted in orange do not have affiliate nexus laws on the books but Amazon has agree to collect sales tax because it has a warehouse or other facility in the state. One such state is Ohio, where Amazon began collecting and remitting sales tax to the state on June 1, 2015.

States noted in yellow have passed “use tax” laws that require remote retailers to provide customers with notification of the total sale price of their purchases so customers can pay a use tax to the state on out-of-state purchases.

Colorado, in maroon, passed the Marketplace Fairness & Small Business Protection Act in June 2014. This legislation clarified Colorado’s existing sales tax laws and stipulated that remote sellers having an office, distribution facility, salesroom, warehouse, or storage place in Colorado are required to collect and remit sales tax to the state, as reported by Deloitte’s Multi-State Tax Alert. The law went into effect on July 1, 2014.

There are only 10 states that have not yet leveled the playing field for Main Street retailers: Alabama, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana (which is included here pending the governor’s decision to sign the state’s e-fairness bill), Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

To download the map below in an 8-1/2" x 11" format, click here.