I don’t think the existence of fulfillment centers in each state would be sufficient to avoid this tax. It wouldn’t make sense. Every other business in a state that caters to clientele in that state has to pay state taxes. In fact, from the article, state presence could require the payment of state taxes: “ The Supreme Court ruling said states couldn’t require out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes from consumers unless those retailers had a physical presence -- through branches, warehouses or employees -- where the consumers were located.” So states can only require the collection of state taxes if there IS a physical presence Or am I misreading something?
Amazon finally agreed to pay tax in California 6 months before they rolled out Amazon 1-day. In Washington it was three months. Most analysts, in fact, saw Amazon's sales tax agreements to be predictors of where they were rolling out 1-day next The law as it exists basically says "if you've got an employee there the state can make you collect sales tax" but the law as it exists requires states attorneys general to devote resources to pursuing out-of-state companies and it doesn't pencil out. Amazon knew that building fulfillment centers would give CA and WA the ammunition they needed to make it worthwhile so they capitulated. The fact that they're now paying it everywhere is an admission that they see things going that way and it was worth capitulating for first-responder advantage.
Starting a fulfillment center in every state doesn't let them avoid this, they're essentially surrendering. If they have to collect sales tax anyway, they may as well have nexus in all 50 states now. Once they do, they can offer better service like same day delivery, 1 hour delivery, and grocery delivery services.