BLAINE — A report from the state Department of Revenue shows that online commerce is a big boon for the Whatcom County towns of Blaine and Sumas on the Canadian border.
Many Canadians can save money on shipping by having items ordered on Amazon.com and other websites shipped to mailboxes on the U.S. side of the border.
Blaine tallied $12.3 million in taxable retail sales in online commerce in 2012, a 58 percent jump from 2011. The city manager says Amazon is now the largest contributor of Blaine’s sales tax revenue.
