Katherine Braun sorts packages toward the right shipping area at an Amazon.com fulfillment center in Goodyear, Ariz., in this Associated Press file photo. Some Tennessee lawmakers object to Amazon not paying sales taxes on products that will be shipped from its Hamilton and Bradley fulfillment centers.NASHVILLE – Gov. Bill Haslam’s efforts to negotiate a “new relationship” with Amazon on state sales-tax collections is drawing a mixed response among Southeast Tennessee lawmakers but producing cheers from one of the Internet retailing giant’s biggest critics.
“No one from the governor’s office has spoken to me concerning this issue at all,” said Rep. Eric Watson, R-Cleveland, who represents a portion of Bradley County where one of two Amazon distribution centers is being built. “I don’t understand really what the governor says when he says that.”
Haslam was quoted Thursday by The Tennessean newspaper as saying he wants to resolve ongoing controversies about Amazon’s tax status when it comes to collecting sales taxes on purchases made by its Tennessee-based customers.
The governor has previously said he backed the agreement struck by his predecessor, Phil Bredesen, in which Amazon would not have to collect such taxes if the company built the warehouses in Bradley and Hamilton counties.
Internet retailers can’t be compelled to collect sales taxes if they have no physical presence in a state, under a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision. Critics argue the Amazon retail centers constitute enough physical presence, an argument Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper has said has merit.