What we call ITBS in Dominican Republic, in USA is called Tax… and so on in each country. Taxes have always existed and all the items we purchase in the U.S. we’ll have to pay them, either when you are there or when we buy through the internet.

Amazon did not pay the tax, because online retailers in the U.S. are normally not subject to pay the Tax unless they have the presence of a store or physical warehouse in the state of destination. Therefore you could notice that when you shopped online, you have gotten to pay in some stores this tax plus the value of the item and the shipping, and in other stores you have not gotten to pay the tax.

The ones who charge the tax is because they have a physical presence in the state of destination of your package which is Florida (where most couriers warehouses are) and the ones that don’t charge the tax, like Amazon, is because they don’t have a warehouse there.

What has triggered that Amazon will begin collecting and paying the U.S. government taxes, is precisely that this year they are going to will build two new warehouses near Orlando, which is good for Latin American countries, as the proximity to the couriers will make our packages arrive faster.

But beware! Do not be alarmed, you have always paid the taxes in almost all online stores, look for an old bill that is not form Amazon and you’ll still be getting the 3 basic benefits of buying online: variety, quality and price!

Source: The Wall Street Journal