SC Senators have passed a bill requiring online sellers to collect sales taxes.

This is necessary following a US Supreme Court decision and a SC Department of Revenue lawsuit to require Amazon to collect taxes on sales from 3rd-party retailers who use Amazon’s website, said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey who represents Lexington County.

This will ensure online retailers collect taxes as brick-and-mortar retailers do.

The bill now goes to the House of Representatives.

Amazon has contended it does not have to collect sales taxes on goods sold by other retailers on their site.

At stake has been $12.5 million in taxes and 2,000 jobs at Amazon’s Lexington County distribution center.

The Senate bill puts the requirement on the retailers.

Without the bill, state officials estimate this could cost up to $500 million in tax revenue by 2021.

Amazon argues it’s not responsible for taxes for other merchants in SC – yet it already does it in 8 states.

Amazon could close its distribution center here as it has done in a few states.

Amazon made $10 billion in profits last year on $233 billion in sales.