In a 9news article, I read that forty-three states support the idea of a sales tax for Internet purchases even if the vendor doesn't have a presence in the state you are buying in. The system in place is voluntary and it's called the Internet Tax Freedom Act, the coalition of states pushing to make it mandatory is called the Conforming States Committee. They estimate the loss to be around $16B!

I personally think that the current state of taxing the internet is fair: if a business has a presence in your state, it should be required to collect taxes; otherwise you purchase it tax free. I think taxing internet sales will probably not generate as much income as they project and they probably aren't losing $16B in taxes as they claim. This is also state income that is being lost, not federal income, so when the streets aren't plowed and the potholes aren't filled - think of that book you bought on Amazon.

Those politicians are always trying to squeeze every last penny out of us and then spending it in the most inefficient method possible.

I'm done ranting now. :)

This article was originally published at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. If you'd like to comment, please do so here.mortgage calculator