States push for online sales-tax collection

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO

Tax-free shopping is under threat for many online shoppers as states facing widening budget gaps increasingly pressure Amazon.com Inc. and other Internet retailers to start collecting sales taxes from their residents.

Billions of dollars are at stake as a growing number of states look for ways to generate more revenue without violating a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prohibits a state from forcing businesses to collect sales taxes unless the business has a physical presence, such as a store, in that state.

States are trying to get around that restriction by passing laws that broaden the definition of a physical presence. Retailers are resisting being deputized as tax collectors.

Until recently, the Supreme Court ruling has meant that Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., would collect taxes from shoppers in all states with sales taxes, whether those shoppers buy items on or off the Web, because it has stores nationwide.

But Amazon, based in Seattle, wouldn’t collect taxes from Floridians because it doesn’t have a presence there. Although in such cases, shoppers in Florida are supposed to pay the tax directly to their state, few actually do.

With the new laws, those living in Evanston, Ill., or Providence, R.I., no longer can expect to avoid paying taxes when shopping online even though Amazon and others have no traditional operations there. States backing these laws argue that a retailer has a physical presence when it uses affiliates — people and businesses that refer customers to the retailer’s website and collect a commission on sales. These affiliates range from one-person blogs promoting the latest gadgets to companies that run coupon and deal sites.

Illinois passed a law this month requiring Internet companies with affiliates in that state to collect taxes on sales to Illinois customers. In Vermont and Arkansas, similar bills scored initial legislative victories in recent weeks. New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island already have adopted similar laws.

In Colorado, a law requires online retailers to either collect the tax or send customers an annual notice letting them know how much they owe their state. Retailers also would have to report that to Colorado officials.

Several other states, including Arizona, Massachusetts and California, are considering passing their own flavor of online sales-tax collection legislation. California lawmakers had passed a bill in 2009, but the governor vetoed it.

It’s not known exactly how much in uncollected taxes is due to states from online sales, but a 2009 study from the University of Tennessee estimated that it could total $10.14 billion this year, assuming total e-commerce sales of $3.49 trillion.