An Amazon customer in Tennessee has sued the online shopping giant demanding it repay what lawyers claim are "excessive" sales taxes charges it levied on his orders.
In a class action complaint filed in Washington state court last month, lawyers for Cullen Duke accused the company of systematically overtaxing he and other Tennesseans who bought items through its third-party marketplace, then refusing to stop when told about the issue.
They asked the court to ban Amazon from overcharging customers and force it to repay everyone who was affected, as well as legal costs and punitive damages.
"Under Tennessee law, when third parties sell goods through Amazon’s online marketplace, Amazon, as the 'marketplace facilitator,' is responsible for calculating, collecting, remitting, and refunding the correct amount of sales tax," the complaint reads.
"Tennessee law also requires customers who have been overcharged to seek refunds directly from Amazon.
"Because Amazon is the only entity from which Plaintiff and the Class members may obtain relief, and because Amazon refuses to refund the excess tax it collected, Plaintiff brings this action on behalf of himself and all similarly situated consumers to recover the overcharges and to stop Amazon’s unlawful tax collection practices."
The Independent has asked Amazon for comment.
In a statement to Law360 last month, Duke's lawyer Toby J. Marshall added: "Reasonable consumers expect a company like Amazon to calculate and collect the correct amount of sales tax, and we believe the failure to do so is unfair and deceptive."
While the lawsuit is only seeking class action status for an estimated 40 Tennesseans affected it's possible there have been similar issues in other jurisdictions.
According to the complaint, Duke lives in an unincorporated area of Sullivan County in far northeastern Tennessee, just outside the Kingsport city limits, where the correct sales tax is 9.25 percent.
But throughout the last two years, the complaint alleges, Amazon has instead charged Duke and other locals 9.5 percent. Much of the lawsuit is a minute catalogue of small amounts of money allegedly overcharged on modest purchases.
For instance, the lawsuit disputes $1.28 in sales tax collected on a $13.45 moisture meter bought on Oct.19, 2024; $9.63 collected on a $101.34 towing light kit on Feb. 20, 2025; and $126.89 collected on Feb. 18 for a $1,335.70 Brake Buddy (a remote braking device designed to help you safely tow a smaller vehicle behind your R.V.).
The complaint does not say how much this all added up to, but says the amount is less than $2,500 — meaning Duke cannot claim a refund from the Tennessee Department of Revenue.
"On March 1, 2025, Plaintiff notified Amazon that it was incorrectly charging him excess sales tax and requested a refund. Despite this notice, Amazon continued to calculate and collect sales tax from Plaintiff at the incorrect rate of 9.50 percent," the complaint reads.
"On May 8, 2025, Amazon attempted to justify its practice of overcharging sales tax to Plaintiff by stating: 'when an item originates from within the state of Tennessee, the rate that will be charged is associated with the origin of the shipment.'
"But the goods and services sold to Plaintiff did not originate from within the state of Tennessee. And regardless of where a good or service that is sold through Amazon’s marketplace originates, the applicable tax rate for that sale is determined by the location where the purchaser receives the good or service."
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