Its not about them being in a different state. My point was that internet business should be taxed the same way that brick and mortar businesses should. If a state (Tx) charges sales tax in a location, then it should charge sales tax virtually.
How many states dont require a sales tax?
As for the phone, if you drive from one state to another, you are doing business in the state you drove to. If you call or order online, then you are actually doing business in both. Since sales tax is usually pushed through to the final destination, then the state you order from should be the amount of tax you pay. Its the same as ordering from the Sears catalog. If we exempt sales tax because it is a virtual business, how is that creating a fair and free marketplace?
The answer to making men free is to free the slaves, not to enslave the rest of men.
If you want sales taxes to be equal then stop charging sales tax to the retail stores. Problem solved.
Taxing an entity that has no presence in your state is evil. The government of texas (or any other state) has no right to charge sales tax to a business not in it's state.
They can come after the buyers and try to collect the tax, but then most buyers have slept since then and don't remember ever buying anything over the internet.
Destroying one segemnt of the free market will not help any other segment. Eventually the business activity will just go entirely black market. (And justifiably so in my opinion)