Because of the government financial deficit, some states in US are aiming at the tax on the online stores. They wish that the tax from the online stores can help to reduce the deficit.
The online retailers are definitely not happy with this idea. Amazon even sued the New York State because New York Sate requires online retailers should collect the tax from the buyers in New York. The State is even considering the tax on the music download.
How much could be the tax revenue if collected? Forrester Research had a rough idea. The online sale is 204 billion in 2008 so government could increase the tax revenue 3 billion.
However, it is not that easy to implement the tax collection for the national online retailers. Different states have different tax rates even for a same product. Also, Supreme Court of the United States passed a rule that state governments can’t force companies to collect the sale taxes for them except the companies have business in those states. Considering the current global economic crisis, more tax collection maybe not the hot topic.
Tags: online shopping, online store, tax