South Carolina Supreme Court Finds Amazon Liable for Third-Party Sales Tax

The South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals’ decision sustaining the Department of Revenue’s (DOR) assessment of $12,490,502.15 in unpaid sales tax, penalties, and interest against Amazon Services LLC for the period January through March 2016. Amazon challenged the assessment arguing that it was not a seller, and hence had no obligation to collect and remit sales tax on third-party marketplace transactions. The court held that Amazon was engaged in the business of selling because it exercised substantial control over pricing, payment processing, customer communications, and other core aspects of third-party sales, making its involvement integral to each ...