President Donald Trump waded into a longstanding scrap between online retailers and their brick-and-mortar rivals with a Twitter posting Wednesday about Amazon.com Inc. and taxes.
And he has a point -- though the Seattle-based online giant has taken steps to reduce its tax advantage in recent years -- retail industry specialists say.
Amazon began collecting sales taxes on purchases in all states that levy them earlier this year, despite an exemption that allows online retailers to avoid collecting them in places where they don’t have a physical presence. But Amazon still avoids charging shoppers sales taxes when they buy from one of its third-party vendors -- sales that make up about half the company’s volume.
Untaxed third-party sales might provide an advantage over brick-and-mortar retail chains, which have their own robust online operations but have to collect sales tax on all purchases in states where they have physical presences. Many large chains have stores in almost every state.
“Amazon is doing great damage to tax paying retailers,” Trump said in a pre-dawn Twitter post Wednesday. “Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt -- many jobs being lost!”
‘Intrinsic Fairness’
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post newspaper, which Trump has frequently attacked over its investigative coverage and editorial criticism of his campaign and administration. The president has repeatedly targeted the retailer in tax-related Twitter messages.
A spokesman for Amazon declined to comment.
Trump’s latest broadside against Amazon comes at a tumultuous period in his relationship with corporate America. Citing remarks in which Trump equated neo-Nazis to counter-protesters, several corporate executives quit White House advisory groups this week before the president said Wednesday the groups would be disbanded.
It was unclear whether Trump’s remarks about Amazon signal his willingness to campaign for federal legislation to address online sales taxes. But any support for brick-and-mortar retailers should help, said Jim Taylor, chief executive officer of Brixmor Property Group Inc., which owns open-air shopping centers.