North Carolina offers online retailers sales tax amnesty

If Internet retailers commence collecting sales tax on products sold to North Carolina state residents the state will, in turn, forgive taxes, penalties and interest for periods before September, and it won’t seek information about customers who bought from them.

North Carolina Revenue Secretary, Kenneth Lay, believes the deal is a win-win situation for all parties concerned and that many of the 350 or so identified Internet retailers that owed taxes would take the state up on its deal.

By taking part, businesses avoid being forced to pay back taxes and the expense of fighting those payments in court. At the same time, North Carolina avoids bearing the cost of tracking down past offenders and gets the added sales tax revenue.

North Carolina charges 5.75% in sales tax. The agreement also requires the collection of local taxes, raising the rate in most counties to 7.75%.