Register Log in  Law & Disorder / Civilization & Discontents
Senate advances “online sales tax” by 74-20 vote  The
Marketplace Fairness Act would mean taxation for nearly all
online sales.  Your tax-free days of online shopping are
numbered. If S743, also known as the Marketplace Fairness Act,
becomes law, the millions of Americans who have been able to
avoid sales tax online will have to start paying it. Given the
broad support shown by today's US Senate vote, some version of
it is likely to come to fruition.  The bill will compel
companies having annual online sales of more than $1 million to
collect sales tax on those purchases. Interstate sales have long
been exempted from sales tax, but brick-and-mortar businesses
have just as long complained about the edge that online
businesses have since they avoid collecting taxes. A key
opponent of online taxation, retail giant Amazon, recently
switched sides after losing some key legal and political battles
over taxation. Amazon already collects taxes on sales in