It’s a Jungle: While Amazon Charges Sales Tax, Not All Sellers Are

Online retail giant Amazon.com began charging Texas sales tax this weekend. But that doesn’t mean everything you buy through the site will be taxed.

While most products on Amazon are sold by, well, Amazon, Wikipedia notes that as of 2007, the site had over 1.3 million third-party sellers and associates. And Amazon says it’s up to those sellers to determine whether they need to charge the tax.

“Third party sellers that use our platform must determine their tax collection requirements based on their individual circumstances,” Amazon Corporate Communications spokesperson Scott Stanzel tells KUT News.

A list of major sellers can be found on the Amazon website. Most, including game publisher Electronic Arts and e-book publishers like Random House Digital, charge sales tax in all states. (Sorry, Kindle lovers.)

But it’s worth noting that those sellers comprise just a speck in the vast number of third-party sellers found on Amazon, the fifth most popular site in the U.S. and tenth most popular worldwide, according to Alexa.com.

Have you ordered anything through Amazon since it started charging tax? Let us know in the comments.