On a chaotic day in DC, Trump goes after Amazon, again
State governments have sought to capture sales taxes lost to internet retailers, though they have struggled with a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that found for a state to collect sales tax from retailer, the retailer must have a physical presence within state borders.
Amazon had a five-year moratorium on taxes, the state wrote in the complaint, giving the company "fair warning that its sales of tangible personal property in South Carolina subjected it to South Carolina's taxing jurisdiction."
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, South Carolina was among 10 states that initially gave Amazon a temporary tax reprieve in exchange for jobs and investment, voting in 2011 to give the company until the beginning of 2016 before the state levied taxes.
According to the conference, that deal made South Carolina the last state to collect among those where officials cut similar deals with Amazon.