Apple Thoughts: Hello Sales Tax on Online Shopping!

"A Democrat from Massachusetts, Rep. Bill Delahunt, has proposed new legislation that would remove the protections online retailers have enjoyed in terms of state sales taxes. At present, people buying from an out-of-state website are not required to pay the sales taxes that would normally be owed at a retail shop."

A hot topic across the web, and destined to ignite a firestorm of protest in the USA, legislation has been proposed that will end the practice of tax-free purchases on the web. Since almost half the states are already collecting sales tax online, it seems to make sense that a uniform system of taxation would be applied to all web purchases. While I do like making purchases tax-free online, these funds collected (estimated at $23 billion) would certainly help to reduce the budget shortfalls in many states.