Others cite the number of tax jurisdictions at 30,000 and the number of sales and use taxes at 40,000. The creation and management of this system, or any plan to tax the Internet, would be nightmarishly complex. The NGA is proposing to put a bureaucrat on every cybercorner, an improbable and expensive task. Despite its growing popularity, not all of the competitive advantages are held by e-commerce. Anything ordered over the Internet involves a delay between order and delivery, whereas patrons of traditional retail stores enjoy immediate receipt of their goods.
Many people don t feel comfortable ordering certain items over the Internet.
Traditional retail also has the enormous advantage of personal service. Further, Internet purchases involve shipping and handling costs, which often add as much or more to the cost of a product as taxes would. Studies have shown that e-commerce doesn t pose the imminent threat to traditional retailers claimed by Internet tax proponents. One reason to dismiss NGA s plan and other such proposals is that Internet taxes are predicated on an intrinsic government claim on our earnings. In addition, implicit in all the arguments for Internet taxation is the protection of the status quo.