Fix aims to force Amazon.com to collect Georgia sales tax

Lawmakers on Monday took aim once again at Amazon.com, after a recent report by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution showed the world’s biggest online retailer still isn’t collecting sales tax from Georgia shoppers.

Senate Bill 67 would essentially sharpen the language of a new sales tax mandate for online-only retailers that went into effect Jan. 1. It would also require annual reports about how much money the mandate collects.

Proposed by Senate Minority Leader Steve Henson, D-Tucker, SB 67 follows criticism by some experts that the current mandate — passed by lawmakers last year — was poorly drafted because it does not require the activities that would require tax collection to take place in Georgia.

Sales tax collected by online-only retailers is expected to raise an estimated $16 million annually for Georgia.