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BY SUSAN JONES
CNSNEWS.COM
Budget-strapped states are eyeing a new way to get more of your money — through sales taxes on Internet purchases. It's coming, says a taxpayer watchdog group.
A bill that would force Internet businesses of all sizes to collect sales taxes on goods and services purchased online could be introduced in Congress this week, warns the National Taxpayers Union. NTU opposes any effort to impose "oppressive taxation" on the Internet, and it says politicians of both parties should reject the attempt.
"As many states continue to face record budget shortfalls, it is not surprising that they have turned to taxing online commerce in a desperate attempt to pay for their profligate spending," NTU said in a news release.
"State and local government officials are leaning hard on Members of Congress to pass the bill to provide them new avenues into taxpayer wallets. They are particularly focusing on convincing Republicans to join the effort, in the hopes that bipartisan support of the tax hike will improve its prospects."
Right now, there are thousands of diverse sales tax jurisdictions in the United States. In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled that such a patchwork of tax systems would make it unduly burdensome for businesses to collect and remit sales taxes on behalf of states where the company had no physical presence. The court also ruled that Congress "has the ultimate power to resolve" the situation.
