Amazon.com Plans to Leave Texas Because of Taxes
Amazon.com Inc., the world’s largest online retailer, said it will close a Texas distribution facility on April 12 because of a tax dispute.
“Despite much hard work and the support of other Texas officials, we’ve been unable to come to a resolution with the Texas comptroller’s office,” the Seattle-based company said today in an e-mailed statement.
Amazon received a request from Texas last year for $269 million in uncollected sales tax, with the state contending that since Amazon has a facility in Texas, it should be collecting such taxes for online purchases. Amazon has been involved in similar battles in states including New York and North Carolina.
In 2009, Amazon cut ties with affiliates in Rhode Island, North Carolina and Hawaii over the issue.
The company said it had planned to build additional operations in Texas that would have created more than 1,000 new jobs. Employees in the facility will be offered positions elsewhere, Amazon said in the e-mail.
That expansion was encouraged by Governor Rick Perry, who recently talked to the company to urge them to stay in the state, said Lucy Nashed, a spokeswoman for the governor.
“We are always mindful of the tax burden on families and businesses in our state, and it is important that Texas clarify the laws regarding this issue,” she said in an e-mail.
Amazon rose 91 cents to $186.21 at 4 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have climbed 59 percent in the past year.
To contact the reporters on this story: Joseph Galante in San Francisco at jgalante3@bloomberg.net; Dina Bass in Seattle at dbass2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at Tgiles5@bloomberg.net
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