Amazon offers to serve as tax collector — for a price

Amazon for years has fought state efforts to force it to collect sales taxes from its customers. Now, instead of battling the tax man, the company is looking to profit — by hiring itself out as an Internet tax collector.

In an abrupt about-face, the company is now offering to handle sales-tax chores for merchants who sell products through its site for a fee equivalent to 2.9% of the taxes collected. The optional service, which is set to roll out Feb. 1, will be offered to Amazon's third-party vendors in all 50 states. It's a strategy that could reap millions of dollars in new revenue for Amazon, which has been among the most vocal opponents of government attempts to tax e-commerce. Analysts said Amazon's shift is an acknowledgment that Internet retailers ultimately will have to play by the same rules as bricks-and-mortar stores. It's also a recognition that there's money to be made in the process, said George Runner, a member of the California State Board of Equalization, the agency that administers sales tax. "This is what smart businesspeople do," Runner said. "They are going to use whatever model they can to expand their business opportunities. They're very slick at it."