An advocacy group for traditional retail businesses is arming itself with public opinion data as it seeks to force online retailer Amazon.com to collect sales taxes in Virginia.
The Virginia Alliance for Main Street Fairness released polling data Wednesday indicating that a majority of Virginians believe Amazon.com should collect the tax.According to the group, 59 percent of the 600 Virginia residents polled believe Amazon should start collecting the state's sales tax as a requirement for opening two new distribution centers in the Richmond area.
Trade groups for traditional retailers argue Amazon has an unfair advantage because it does not have to collect the tax now. They plan to push legislation in the General Assembly that would make the online giant charge the tax and remit it to the state.
"We wanted to be able to let legislators know that there is strong support for fixing the tax loophole," said Rob Shinn, a spokesman for the retail alliance, which includes several retail trade organizations.
Amazon did not return a phone call or email seeking comment.
The Seattle-based company announced in December that it plans to build two massive distribution centers in Chesterfield and Dinwiddie counties. The centers are expected to open this year and employ 1,350 people.
Even with the new distribution centers in the state, Gov. Bob McDonnell's administration has said Amazon will not have to collect the 5 percent state sales tax from Virginia residents, citing a 2007 state tax department ruling that exempted the company because its distribution centers do not actually make sales.
Instead, the tax department said consumers are supposed to pay the sales tax for their online purchases as part of their annual income-tax return.
Amazon has set up a special legal structure for its operations in Virginia and other states that helps the company avoid establishing a "nexus," or physical presence in a state, that triggers the requirement to collect sales taxes.
Yet the company has recently reached deals with Indiana and Tennessee, where it also has warehouses, to start collecting sales taxes in 2014.
According to the retail alliance, the poll indicated that 56 percent of Virginians agree that sales taxes should be the same online as they are for brick-and-mortar stores.
The poll was conducted Jan. 4-5 by TargetPoint Consulting and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.
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