Closing the online tax loophole: the popularity of e-commerce has refocused the need to simplify sales taxes.

• Author: Blackston, Michelle

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Internet sales are a national phenomenon. Consumers spent $136.4 billion on purchases they made online in 2007, a 19 percent increase over the previous year.

It's quick, it's easy, and in most cases you don't have to pay sales tax--a boon for the consumer, maybe, but a huge revenue loss for states.

Online business transactions have created a new economy not bound by local, state or international borders.

"Electronic commerce has the potential to dramatically expand the volume of goods sold to customers without collecting sales or use tax," says Steven Rauschenberger, former Illinois senator and NCSL president. "The shift to a service-based economy and the erosion of sales tax revenues from online sales threatens the future viability of the sales tax and the ability of state governments to fund such essential things as education, homeland security and public safety."

According to the U.S. Supreme Court, states' disparate state and local sales tax systems make collecting them an undue burden on out-of-state retailers. It ruled in 1967 that states cannot force out-of-state businesses to collect taxes on remote sales and reaffirmed the decision in 1991. In fact, in the 45 states and the District of Columbia that have sales taxes (including 7,500 local jurisdictions, many of which also impose a sales tax), many tax the same items differently, making it confusing at best for retailers.

"The burden on retailers--literally and figuratively--to comply with 45 different sales tax systems is the reason behind the Supreme Court's ruling. It's just too costly and time consuming," says West Virginia Delegate John Doyle. "Because states have not been successful in collecting the use taxes that consumers legally owe when a sales tax is not collected by the seller, states are losing billions of dollars each year in revenue."

Enter the Streamlined Sales Tax Project. In 2000, a group of state legislators, governors, tax administrators and representatives of the retail industry and business community set out to develop a simpler, more uniform and fair sales and use tax system. Their efforts culminated in the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, ratified by delegates in 35 states in November 2002. Delegate Doyle serves as first vice president of the governing board for the Streamlined Sales Tax project.

In 2005, the agreement became operational when 13 states representing 20 percent of the U.S. population fully complied with the...