Everything is negotiable when you’re a company that’s as big as powerful as Amazon. After landing a sweet incentive deal to build a distribution hub in Tennessee, the online sales giant is trying to get the state to excuse its customers from paying state sales tax on their purchases.

The Seattle Times reports the company is seeking the same deal it has in six other states in which it operates distribution centers. The story says a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision held that states can’t require companies to collect state income tax unless they have a physical presence there. Amazon claims its distribution centers are separate entities, and thus their existence in various states doesn’t mean the company proper is physically there.

In order to lure Amazon to Tennessee, the state gave it free land, job training assistance and $12 million in property tax breaks. The story says the deal is standard for a company that promised to bring 1,400 jobs tot he state this year.

Amazon.com fights sales taxes after getting other breaks [The Seattle Times]
(Thanks, Tonmoy!)

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