With Online Sales Booming, States Struggle to Capture Sales Tax

Stateline: Imagine having $26 billion dangling just in front of you, only to have it repeatedly jerked away. That’s the situation facing the 45 states that have a sales tax, as people do more of their shopping from the comfort of their couches, rather than in retail stores.

The $26 billion is what states estimate they could collect in sales taxes on products sold remotely — online and via mail order. But because taxes are not collected on most remote sales — with the exception of most Amazon sales — states aren’t capturing those potential billions in revenue

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