Amazon started collecting sales tax from online shoppers here in Florida last year, but shoppers have already found a way to avoid it.
[WEB EXTRA: County-by-county sales tax]
"It's a matter of a few clicks, it's a matter of seconds," said Ohio State University finance professor Itzhak Ben-David.
Ben-David told Local 6 over Skype how consumers are easily avoiding what he calls "the Amazon tax."
"What happens with the Amazon tax is it applies to Amazon itself, but it doesn't apply to small sellers who sell through Amazon," he said.
So, shoppers in the market for something like a "smart scale" could avoid tax by clicking to see all the "other sellers."
That's where they can often find other smaller sellers, like "Direct Express," selling the product for the same price as Amazon -- even with free Prime shipping -- and no sales tax is collected, even though Amazon stored, packed and shipped the product.
But while you may not have to pay sales tax, Florida does have something called a "use tax." That means you still should be paying the state a six percent tax on anything you buy. But it's an honor system.
Will people do that?
"The Amazon tax is basically a response to the fact that people don't self-report," Ben-David said.
Even Florida's Department of Revenue admits: "Many Florida citizens are not aware that this state has a 'use tax.'"
And plenty of people we talked to had no problem choosing the cheapest option.
"No, not at all," said one shopper in downtown Orlando. "No, the government rips us off so much already"
But you can be 100 percent honest and still save money -- just not as much.
The "use tax" is only 6 percent. But sales tax in many counties is often higher than that. So, if you buy a TV on amazon, instead of at a Seminole County Walmart, you'll only need to send the state 6 percent at the end of the quarter, instead of paying the 7 percent at the cash register in person.