NASHVILLE – Gov. Bill Haslam said today he continues to back the Bredesen administration’s commitment to Amazon that the company will not be required to collect state sales taxes despite locating two fulfillment centers in Southeast Tennessee.
But the governor was less than clear about how he intends to deal with legislation sponsored by two powerful Republican lawmakers that seeks to require Amazon to collect sales taxes on items it sells to Tennessee customers.
“I’ve actually just got the legislation this morning,” Haslam told reporters. “As I understand it, the attorney general is looking at that [constitutionality] as well. So I’ll probably wait to see what he says before we do it [weigh in].”
On Wednesday, Amazon’s vice president for public policy, Paul Misener, said legislative efforts to make the Internet retailer collect sales taxes on its Tennessee customers are unconstitutional and, if approved, could cause the company to abandon the fulfillment centers it is building in Hamilton and Bradley counties.
Haslam said when he was informed by then-Gov. Phil Bredesen about the state’s commitment to Amazon on sales tax collections, “the intention, as I told them at the time, was to honor the commitment. In terms of my response to the bill, I’ll to see what the attorney general says.”