Sales Tax: When ‘Animal Farm’ Meets the Metaphysical World of the Internet

Here's my take: taxation of online transactions is inevitable. Compared to the early days of e-commerce, there's now too much money flowing for states to ignore it, and there's no justification for it to be ignored. Assuming the internet is nothing more than a vehicle for communication and transferring information — and not a new metaphysical frontier — there's no reason for it to receive preferential tax treatment. From a business and compliance perspective, the evidence also suggests that online merchants will do just fine with this adaptation. The fact is that many online businesses collect taxes and manage a viable business.