How to quantify the lost tax dollars has been a difficult question, but a recent study on the subject provides more than a few well-researched answers. Before e-commerce, this tax primarily applied to catalog sales and other remote transactions. That figure assumes state governments will collect 50 percent of the use taxes they are owed, which is higher than the current offline rate. Consumers are torn over Net taxes.
Few people welcome any kind of new tax, but some consumer opinion polls reveal otherwise.
A survey sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties found that three-quarters of Americans say it's unfair that online retailers do not collect sales taxes. Yet studies of the Net population have found the opposite to be true. BizRate found 87 percent of consumers do not make online purchases solely to avoid a sales tax. Forrester's survey found 67 percent of online shoppers say shipping costs impact Web buying decisions more than taxes do. From a survey of 8,900 online shoppers.