The chance to shop tax-free on Amazon for Texans had passed by mid-night on June 30, 2012. Starting July 1, all shoppers must pay state sales tax. Other states will also collect sales tax starting in September 2012 including Pennsylvania and California. One year from today, New Jersey will also start collecting state tax on Amazon. By January 2014, there will be several states to collect tax on Amazon, including Indiana, Nevada, and Tennessee.
Since the start of e-commerce booming in early 2000s, Amazon.com has tried to avoid taking sales tax from majority of its American-based customers. However, as economy crisis started in 2007 in America, many states tried to ask Amazon to become a tax collector for all kinds of stuffs the company sold. Amazon faced difficulties and lawsuits, and had tried to close down several local business operations to delay collecting state sales tax.