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Amazon hasn't closed its Irving distribution center, as it threatened [The Dallas Morning News](Dallas Morning News (TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) April 13--After Texas slapped Amazon.com with a $269 million bill for uncollected sales tax in February, the online superstore said it would close its Irving distribution center this week, letting its 119 employees go. Apparently the Seattle-based company wasn't ready to carry out its vow to vacate the facility by Tuesday. A temporary hiring firm is interviewing to fill jobs at the Irving facility, even after employees were laid off. For now, Amazon's flag still waves outside the building that is at the center of a legal dispute with Texas. It's not clear why Amazon has postponed or even reversed its decision. Calls and emails to Amazon were not answered. The dispute stems from laws that govern which online retailers must collect and pay sales taxes. Generally, Web retailers with a "physical presence" in the state are required to charge sales tax. Amazon has not collected sales tax, even though it operates the Irving distribution center. The Amazon case has led to the introduction of several bills in the Texas Legislature that attempt to clarify the law. These bills not only would affect Amazon, but some have swept other businesses into the debate. Expanded impact Home-based shopping blogs and small companies in Texas that refer customers to Amazon stand to lose substantial income under some versions of pending legislation. Last week, a bill was sent to the full House that defines all the ways a retailer can have a physical presence in the state. That's a test for collecting sales taxes on purchases made by state residents based on a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision. House Bill 2403, by Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton, has advanced ahead of others. The bill's list includes distribution centers but doesn't include any reference to so-called Amazon affiliates, or companies that send customers to retailers from their websites and blogs. Other pending bills would declare that Amazon affiliates create a physical presence in the state and therefore would be subject to paying sales tax. Other states have passed similar laws. Amazon has threatened to stop doing business with affiliates in states that would bind those companies to it for the purpose of establishing a physical presence. Plano-based Dealtaker.com, which refers customers to Amazon, said it would be forced to move its 18 employees to the Richmond, Va., headquarters of its parent company, Media General. Similar deal aggregator websites have moved as a result of new laws. Last week, Illinois-based FatWallet moved its 50 employees to Wisconsin to avoid losing more than 30 percent of its revenue. "We've prepared a contingency plan. I don't want to terminate our Texas employees and hire Virginia employees just to shield ourselves from merchants that would turn us off," said Dealtaker president Kevin Strawbridge. "It's not fair that we're getting wrapped up in policy to collect sales taxes. We're no different from a newspaper that posts ads," he said. Small businesses Dallas blogger Rachel Holland said about one-fourth of her household's income would disappear if she couldn't post Amazon deals on her website, Survivingthestores.com, which she started in 2009. Holland, 30, and her husband, Ryan, 33, who lost his sales job a year ago, have built up the business to the point that it supports their family of six, including four children under the age of 8. "I wanted to go testify in Austin two weeks ago but couldn't get away," she said. Shellie Deringer, an Austin blogger, did testify at a Texas House Ways and Means Committee hearing on March 28. "I can't move to another state if the law changes. My family is here," Deringer said. Being called affiliates of Amazon isn't a fair description, the bloggers and deal aggregator websites say. "We aren't owned by Amazon.com, and we aren't employees of Amazon. We offer deals from all sorts of retailers. Target, J.C. Penney and others only pay us if we send them someone who makes a purchase," said Strawbridge. Tax bill dispute Separate from the legislation, Amazon and the Texas comptroller's dispute over whether Amazon owes the state $269 million in uncollected sales taxes and interest is proceeding on a different track. The period in dispute is from December 2005 to December 2009. The matter is before the State Council of Administrative Hearings. If that body can't lead the two to a resolution, either side can move the argument to the state District Court, said comptroller's spokesman Allen Spelce. After Amazon made its declaration in February to leave Texas and take its jobs with it, Gov. Rick Perry second-guessed Comptroller Susan Combs' handling of the tax dispute. "The governor is concerned anytime jobs may be leaving our state," Perry's deputy press secretary said Tuesday. Both the comptroller and the governor support legislation that clarifies the issue, their offices said. Meanwhile, Amazon's Irving facility continues its business. Chicago-based Staff Management-SMX is hiring temporary workers to do the same jobs that laid-off Amazon workers were doing, according to online job ads. "Pick and pack" purchases made by customers of the "world's largest Internet retailer," says the CareerBuilder.com ad. That would be Amazon, which had $34 billion in sales last year. An SMX spokeswoman said she couldn't comment. To see more of The Dallas Morning News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dallasnews.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Dallas Morning News Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. 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