Amazon.com to start collecting taxes for online sales in Louisiana

[TexasTowelie]

Amazon.com, the giant online retailer, will begin charging Louisiana customers sales taxes on Jan. 1, the head of the Department of Revenue said Tuesday.

Revenue Secretary Kimberly Robinson said in an interview her department hasn’t calculated how much money would be raised from charging taxes on sales over the Internet, but estimated that tens of millions of dollars could be added to Louisiana’s often depleted coffers.

“This isn’t going to fill the deficit, but it is going to help,” said Robinson, who has been meeting with business leaders around the state to lobby for an overhaul of a fiscal system that year after year fails to come up with enough revenues. The state needs to find another $300 million to pay the bills due for the fiscal year that began July 1.

Amazon will charge sales taxes based on where the merchandise is shipped, if it is one of the states where the company collects the levies. For purchases sent to Louisiana addresses, Amazon will collect and send to the Revenue Department the state sales tax, now 5-cents on the dollar, and the appropriate local tax to local authorities, Robinson said.

Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_9655ed90-c6f5-11e6-80ec-0b6227ed2130.html