Amazon headquarters is based in Seatle, WA.
If a Texan goes to Seattle and purchases a hotel room, does he owe Texas taxes on that room? Or if he buys clothes, jewelry, rents a car, buys furniture, electronics or anything else? Nope.
If I order clothes through mail order, phone or have a friend ship me goods, no taxes are collected.
This sounds like nothing more than a state government shake-down, on a successful (and therefore ‘evil’) company.
“If a Texan goes to Seattle and purchases a hotel room, does he owe Texas taxes on that room? Or if he buys clothes, jewelry, rents a car, buys furniture, electronics or anything else? Nope.”
The Texan didn’t consume or use the product in Texas so no, he should not owe taxes on it. If he buys something out of state then brings it into the state to consume then technically he owes taxes on the value of the goods unless it’s specifically exempted by state law. Buy a car out of state and then bring it to Texas and see how long you can get by without paying taxes on it.
That all depends. If you order on-line or via telephone (catalog), and the company has a brick-and-mortar presence in the state in which you reside, it is responsible for collecting sales tax on the purchase.
If not, then you are responsible, as most states have a use tax provision to accompany the sales tax. That is to say, if you bought something out of state, and didn't pay sales tax on it in your home state, and you use/consume the goods in your home state, you owe use tax on the goods to your home state. This is a generalization, as there are many factors used to make that determination, and your home state won't care if you knew the rules or not if you get caught. Most folks either ignore it, or are unaware of it.