Congress Considers Online Sales Tax - KULR-8 Television, Billings, MT

Congress Considers Online Sales Tax

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By Brad Carl - bio | email
BILLINGS -

The U.S. House of Representatives is considering a bill that would allow the collection of taxes from online sales.

The bill, which already passed through the Senate, pits stores like Walmart and Best Buy against online retailers like Amazon and eBay.

Doctor Scott Rickard, the Director for the Center of Applied Economic Research at MSU-Billings, said he believes with the amount of money being spent online, it's only a matter of time before some form of online sales tax is passed to help generate more revenue for state governments.

"For a number of years, the internet was not as big of a player. Now it's latest reading $228 Billion in internet sales, in retails sales. So that's a very big hunk of change that's out there," said Rickard.

Montana's Congressional Delegation, the State's Chamber of Commerce, and the Attorney General's office in conjunction with Oregon and Alaska, states that also don't have a state sales tax, have urged the House to not pass the bill.