Amazon will start charging sales tax in Missouri

The tax break for Amazon users who live in Missouri is coming to an end.

Amazon will begin collecting the state’s 4.225 percent sales tax on February 1, the company told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Missouri is one of a shrinking number of states where Amazon does not have a physical presence. The absence of a distribution center within Missouri’s borders has allowed residents to avoid paying state and local sales taxes on Amazon purchases. The brick-and-mortar exception stems from a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Earlier this month, Amazon announced plans to add 100,000 full-time workers in the U.S. over the next 18 months. The decision to begin collecting state sales taxes suggests a place for Missouri in the company’s expansion plans. 

Kansas residents are accustomed to paying sales taxes on Amazon purchases. The company has fulfillment centers in Lenexa and Edgerton and is building a new facility in KCK.

State and local governments have lost revenue as shoppers abandon malls for Amazon and other online sellers. A University of Missouri analysis determined that failure to capture taxes on online retail purchases cost $358 million in state and local sales tax revenue in 2014.