[SheLion]

It's legal because most states don't have just a sales tax but have a sales and use tax. The use tax basically says that you are responsible for reporting and paying the tax on anything you buy if the seller doesn't collect the tax from you.

Then how come reputable online company (like JC Penny) will add the state tax (such as Maine, when they have an outlet in the state), and make it their responsibility instead of the consumer?

Why is it just the tobacco dealer's that refuse to do this, leaving the consumer out there flapping in the wind?  If a store has an outlet in said state, and when an order is placed over the internet from said company, then the company will add on the state tax.  The consumer doesn't have to bother with it.

Yet, just because it has to do with tobacco and screwing the smokers, smokers who order off of the internet are made to believe this is their responsibility.  How quaint.

[DannyTN]

"Then how come reputable online company (like JC Penny) will add the state tax (such as Maine, when they have an outlet in the state), and make it their responsibility instead of the consumer?"

Because when they have an outlet in the state, the state can audit them wherever their headquarters is. The state has power over them. A state can't force a company in another state that doesn't have a physical presence in their state to report to them.

"Why is it just the tobacco dealer's that refuse to do this, leaving the consumer out there flapping in the wind?"

The tobacco dealers are required to report by law, according to another poster in this thread. If JCPenny didn't have outlets in your state, they would not collect the tax. It's not that they are more reputable, it's that they have physical presence in your state and are therefore required to submit to audits.

The law is unfair to the online tobacco dealers because it makes them report but not other online retailers.

[Raycpa]

Then how come reputable online company (like JC Penny) will add the state tax (such as Maine, when they have an outlet in the state), and make it their responsibility instead of the consumer?

The reason is nexus. Nexus is established when an entity has a physical presence, like a store, salespeople or a warehouse. When it does, it is subject to the tax laws of that state.