Remote Sales to Cost State and Local Governments $440 Billion.

• Position: News Briefs - Brief Article

* Over the next 10 years, state and local governments will lose an estimated $440 billion in sales and use tax revenue, according to a study commissioned by the Institute for State Studies. Remote vendors, primarily catalog and e-commerce retailers, are not required to collect sales or use taxes in states where they do not have a physical presence or ''nexus." The responsibility for payment rests with the citizen, and governments do not have an effective means of enforcing compliance. One of the greatest obstacles to mandating that remote vendors collect sales and use taxes is the administrative burden that compliance would...