From the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel:
If you haven’t bought anything from Amazon since the first of the year, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise. Indiana, along with Tennessee and Nevada, is one of three states added to the growing list in which the giant retailer must collect sales taxes. Amazon already collected the tax in 16; South Carolina will soon be added, bringing the total to 20.
And the list will continue to grow. Technically, online retailers are required to collect taxes only in states where they have a physical presence. But the Supreme Court recently declined to hear an Amazon lawsuit against New York, which contends that the company’s connections with local affiliates “constitute” a physical presence. And the Marketplace Fairness Act, approved by the Senate and pending in the House, would require online and brick-and-mortar retailers to be treated the same way.
Whether the overall effect of this shift is good or bad remains to be seen, so it’s easy to have mixed feelings.
State officials will see it as a positive step because they’ll get tax revenue they’ve been missing. People who shop online have always been required to pay sales tax on their purchases voluntarily, but few people have. Estimates vary, but a recent one said making Amazon collect the taxes at the point of sale would result in $50 million a year for the three new states.
And brick-and-mortar stores, which have always had to collect sales taxes, will be very glad to see a competitive disadvantage disappear. They’re also always had to sustain heavy infrastructure and personnel costs, and letting the online retailers slide on tax collection seemed like adding insult to injury.
The ones who will be hurt are, of course, online retailers, who will likely see some business drop-off, and their customers, who will start paying heftier bills. The increase might be especially painful come next Christmas season.
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http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140106/EDITORIAL/140109825/0/SEARCH
