States Closer To Squeezing Consumers for Online Sales Taxes

Government's appetite is never sated

The days of shopping online without paying sales taxes may be ending. States are cracking down and a nationwide system for collecting sales tax on online sales may be coming soon.

Several developments in recent weeks show how quickly the landscape is changing on what has long been an important but elusive goal for state officials: collecting sales tax from online retailers.

States and localities could reap as much as $11 billion a year, according to one study. Internet shoppers are already supposed to pay the money on their own but rarely do.