Will New York Online Sales Tax Legislation Kill E-Commerce?

eTail dTail Blog: Will New York Online Sales Tax Legislation Kill E-Commerce?

The headline for this entry may be drastic, but the bill that passed in the New York State legislature last week may have huge ramifications to e-commerce/mobile commerce, to how online retailers interact with their clients, and to how consumers shop online into the future.

The good news, if you are one who does not like online sales taxes, is that this recent move by the state of New York is not new. The Illinois legislature demanded onlines sales tax to be paid in 2003 and some larger retailers actually voluntarily paid these taxes to some states that demanded it. But, overall, there was no logical enforcement policy for all online merchants to pay the online sales tax, so people have simply ignored attempts by several states to enforce their laws and ensure that companies and consumers pay online sales taxes for purchases by residents in their respective state.

Furthermore, there is a lobbying organization representing 30 states that has tried to enforce an online sales tax code, but they started in 2000 and have had little success in passing legislation at the national level or enforcing laws at the state and local level.

Technorati Tags: e-commerce, sales tax, new york

Comments

[Online Shopping Deals]

I wonder how much impact this will have on NY citizens shopping habits. If they're like me, they'll just accept it as a cost of the convenience that online shopping affords us.