Amazon.com announced last week it will be charging sales tax for Florida customers.
The 6-percent tax will be applied to all goods purchased except groceries, medicines and vitamins and supplements, lining up with Florida’s tax laws. Ty Rogers, a spokesman for Amazon, wrote in an email that the online retailer will be required to collect sales tax starting May 1.
The tax was spurred by the retailer’s plans to add two additional warehouses in Florida, according to a Tampa Bay Times article.
Chelsea Byard, a manager at Zell’s Hardware, located at 3727 W. University Ave., said her store having to charge sales tax has put them at a disadvantage to online retailers like Amazon.
Byard said the tax on Amazon’s goods will help. She said although shelves are barer than they were when the store opened 50 years ago, the store still tries to provide the best service at the lowest prices.
“Of course our stuff is a bit more expensive, but we have to survive,” she said.
[A version of this story ran on page 11 on 4/23/2014 under the headline "Amazon will start charging sales tax in Florida on May 1"]
