[DoodleDawg]

I believe Federal law would preclude a state from collecting a sales tax from a business located outside the state.

Then virtually every on-line retailer I deal with is breaking the law. They all collect sales taxes.

[IYAS9YAS]

Then virtually every on-line retailer I deal with is breaking the law. They all collect sales taxes.

Don't confuse state with retailer. A retailer, if it has a physical presence in your state, must collect relevant sales taxes on sales to you, on-line or otherwise.

If the retailer has no physical presence in your state, they are not obligated to collect sales tax, but they may opt to do so, and remit those taxes to your state. Under current law, the state cannot force an out-of-state retailer, with no physical presence in your state, to collect sales tax from you for on-line or mail-order purchases, but there is nothing that prevents the retailer from collecting and remitting those taxes.

[Alberta's Child]

Legally, an online retailer is not considered an "out of state" business establishment if they have a physical presence inside the state where the sale is made. This was written into these sales tax laws years ago to prevent brick & mortar retailers like Staples or Barnes & Noble, for example, from circumventing a state sales tax by taking orders from customers in one state and shipping them merchandise from another.

Interestingly, these laws don't distinguish between a "retail presence" and a "warehouse presence" ... so Amazon is forced to collect sales taxes in any state where they have a distribution center even if they have no other presence in the state at all.