Majority of states pressing for taxing all Internet sales
written by: Paola Farer Web Producer
reported by: Mark Koebrich 9NEWS Consumer Reporter
Created: 6/3/2005 4:52 PM MDT - Updated: 6/4/2005 4:46 PM MDT
DENVER - 9News has learned that 43 states have joined together in a coalition to collect sales tax on all Internet purchases.
You already pay sales tax when you go online to buy from an established business like Eddie Bauer or Wal-Mart. But a lot of small Internet businesses and individual transactions float under the radar.
The coalition is seeking expertise from Colorado's high tech industry to get the tax collection done electronically.
"The Internet Tax Freedom Act says that states cannot treat sales on the Internet differently than they treat any other kind of sale--and this system that we've created does exactly that," says Scott Peterson with the Conforming States Committee, which is spearheading the effort.
"It treats every sale exactly the same regardless if it's over the counter, over the catalogue, over the phone or over the Internet," he says.
The states say they've been losing as much as $16 billion annually to the Internet. They say that new software will make collecting the money almost automatic and that they can have a system in place by Oct. 1.
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