The Supreme Court ruled that states can now collect sales taxes on internet sales. So, how is a small business person with an internet business going to survive?
45 states have a sales tax regime. 24 of them have passed legislation to opt into the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement. See, http://www.streamlinedsalestax.org/. Some states have exemptions for small sales. Some states have exemptions for “occasional sales” but when you look at the definition of occasional sales, the exemption invariably only applies to charity sales, garage sales, and bulk sales of business inventory.
So, small internet businesses have to now make a few tough choices. (1) They can limit states they sell to (for example only those state who have signed the streamlined sales tax agreement); (2) They can apply to pay sales tax in each jurisdiction; or (3) lobby hard with Congress to write a law. The problem for small internet businesses is that there are small brick and mortar businesses which are also lobbying Congress to make sure these internet businesses pay taxes. Stay tuned for more as events occur.