Senate passes Amazon sales tax bill

Good.

The Texas Senate has overwhelmingly passed a measure aimed at tightening the state’s rules on when online businesses must collect sales tax.

Senators voted 30-1 [Friday] to pass House Bill 2403, a measure that originated with Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton. The bill was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas.

The bill now goes to Gov. Rick Perry.

With its vote, the Senate joined the House in siding with state Comptroller Susan Combs in her push to force Amazon.com and other online retailers to collect taxes on sales made to Texans.

The company has consistently opposed collecting tax on its online sales, which has angered state governments and traditional retailers. Combs has said Texas loses $600 million a year in uncollected tax revenue on online sales.

See here for some background. Given Perry’s earlier spat with Combs over this, one wonders if he’ll sign this or veto it. I wouldn’t be surprised by the latter.

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