NORTH CAROLINA (WTVD) -- Large online retailers must now pay sales tax on goods sold in North Carolina.[br /][br /]A new directive took effect Nov. 1 requiring companies to start paying the tax, although some--like Amazon--were already doing so voluntarily.[br /][Ads /][br /]Previously, consumers who bought online goods were supposed to declare the purchase on their income tax forms. With the new directive, companies will be required to pay those taxes to the state, which means they will likely pass the tax onto consumers.[br /][br /]The new directive comes months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a previous ruling that said state sales tax only had to be paid by stores with physical locations in the state.[br /][br /][iframe SRC="https://files.nc.gov/ncdor/documents/files/sd-18-6_0.pdf" HEIGHTSMALL="200" HEIGHTMEDIUM="300" HEIGHTLARGE="500" /][br /][br /][url HREF="https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article216294290.html" TARGET="new" REL=""]According to our newsgathering partners at the News & Observer,[/url] the N.C. Retail Merchants Association said the new law levels the playing field between brick and mortar retailers and online distributors.[br /][Ads /][br /][/br][br /]North Carolina joins 22 other states that have laws requiring online retailers to pay state sales taxes, [url HREF="https://www.bna.com/four-states-begin-n57982093438/" TARGET="new" REL=""]according to Bloomberg Tax.[/url][br /][br /][media ID="4596258" /][br /][br /][i]Note: Video in this article comes from a previous story.[/i]