Senate to Open Debate on Charging National Sales tax on Online Purchases

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Fresh off last week’s bitter battle over gun control legislation, the U.S. Senate is slated to delve into another divisive issue: legislation to tax Internet sales.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is expected to begin debate on the Marketplace Fairness Act as early as Monday with a possible vote on the measure by the end of the week.

The bill would allow states to require online retailers of a certain size to collect sales tax, even when the seller is from a different state. States now lose about $11 billion in tax revenue because online sales are not taxed, according to a 2011 report by Fitch Ratings.

Under current law, online retailers must collect taxes only in states where they have a physical presence. The legislation would compel those retailers to collect in all states, with an exception for retailers with annual sales of less than $1 million.

Support for the legislation crosses party lines but so does the opposition in the Senate.

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