Amazon.com has made a tentative agreement with California lawmakers to resolve a battle over sales taxes on online purchases in the state, according to multiple reports this morning.

Under the agreement, Amazon will drop its push to repeal an online sales tax in the state, and agree to begin collecting sales taxes from sales to residents in the state a year from now, according to reports by Bloomberg News and the San Jose Mercury News.

Amazon.com isn’t commenting on the reports. The company is facing similar battles over sales tax across the country — a debate that highlights the divide between the worlds of traditional and online retail. Retailers with physical stores say the company enjoys an unfair advantage when it isn’t required to collect sales taxes.

In an editorial this week, the New York Times scolded Amazon for its position in California, saying it amounted to “an abdication of corporate responsibility.”

Earlier this year, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos reiterated that the company believes a unified federal law is the best solution to the tax issue. The Mercury News reports that any federal legislation would supersede the deal Amazon has reached with California lawmakers.

 

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