The Senate has approved legislation requiring online retailers to collect sales taxes from Internet sales, even if they don’t have a physical presence in the state where the customer resides.
The Marketplace Fairness Act has attracted wide support from brick-and-mortar retailers who have seen shoppers coming to their stores to check out merchandise, only to order it online, sometimes while still in the store from their smartphones. Many revenue-starved state governments have also supported the bill. The legislation even garnered the support of e-commerce giant Amazon.com, which has traditionally fought against online sales taxation, but has been expanding its warehouse presence across the country.