Amazon Wins One Battle In The War With NC Over Tax Money

For months now, Amazon and the state of North Carolina have been fighting over the desire of NC to charge back sales tax on purchases that residents of the state made on Amazon. Amazon has been fighting the request of the state in court to provide detailed information on purchases made by NC shoppers.

NC has asked for information like names, addresses, detailed purchase history and more. Amazon has argued that the state has no need for such detailed information and that providing that information would be a breach of privacy for Amazon users. Amazon has won in court for the time being against NC.

The judge presiding over the case ruled that NC has "no legitimate need" for details about what films, books, or music state residents have purchased. However, NC residents are likely to be hit with a new request for back sales tax. The judge did state that NC could simply destroy the information it has on file right now and request a more defined set of details from Amazon that includes only names and addresses of customers along with general product information. Presumably, that would be along the line of John Smith, 1234 Main Street, book, and a purchase date. I don't even want to think of the firestorm of suits and back tax requests across the country that will commence once NC sets this precedent.