Politicians treat them as ancillary matters, and you see static analyses of state revenue departments that assume that states can capture new revenue simply by raising rates. But Americans have already developed an extensive culture of sales tax avoidance. People shop for tax breaks the way they shop for sales. A good example is the Mall of America, the nation s largest tourist destination. But it s also a prime example of tax avoidance.
People go to Minnesota and to the mall because Minnesota has no sales tax on clothing.
I think it s important to recognize, therefore, that when Americans choose to cross the state line to go from New York to New Jersey, or from the District of Columbia to another jurisdiction, just to save pennies on sales tax, they re actually telling government something. They re saying, this amount is too much. Or, this I won t pay. They send the same message when they choose to order from L.L. Bean or any other mail order house that enables them to escape state sales tax. Internet shopping is another example of this message.