[This put's pressure on other net sellers, including tobacco to collect taxes. The level playing field comes into force once again ... you get large busineess on your side collecting taxes and they use their muscle to lobby for enforcement against the smaller business not complying.]


"Net's no longer a haven from sales taxes

By Lisa M. Bowman
Special to ZDNet News
February 6, 2003, 10:22 AM PT

Several large retailers this week began collecting sales tax on Internet purchases.
The move arose from an agreement among about 38 states and the District of Columbia that went into effect this week. The deal was struck last fall after states complained that they've been losing billions of dollars in tax revenue as online sales rise.

In exchange for signing onto the agreement, the retailers will not be held liable for back sales taxes they may owe, according to people familiar with the agreement.



Those involved would not say which retailers agreed to the deal, but retailers including Toys "R" Us, Wal-Mart and Target recently posted new policies on sales taxes. Amazon.com, which has partnerships with Target.com, MarshallFields.com and Mervyns.com to sell items online, notified customers of the change through a posting on its site."

zdnet




[This message has been edited by John L (edited 02-06-2003).]

Simple solution to this - have anything you purchase online shipped to a friend or relative in state with no sales tax - and have them ship it to you.

End of sales tax.Sales tax can not be charged on something shipped to a state without a sales tax.

I learned that years ago - I would buy electronics in NYC - prices and selection were better there than here at the time - and just have them ship them to me. There is no sales tax in Delaware - the NYC retailers were not required to collect NY sales taxes for items being shipped out of state, particularly a state without a sales tax.

I ran into similar situations in other states when paying with a check from a Delaware bank and using my DE drivers' license as ID - all of a sudden sales tax just disappeared.