“Free shipping! What a deal!”
The media has it’s reasons for squelching the subject I suppose.
A state can “end” sales taxes- by making the retailer pay them instead of the consumer...
“A state can end sales taxes- by making the retailer pay them instead of the consumer...”
There is no way to predict who will end up paying that tax by simply trying to shift it to the retailer. That’s the lesson of Tax Incidence.
Some or all of the tax may be borne by the retailer in the form of lower profit. Some or all of the tax may fall on the consumer in the form of higher prices. If the retailer’s expenses go up and his income goes down he may go out of business. That’s one way tax incidence plays out. Depends upon what his margins are and whether his product is something that customers regard as essential.
A company remits sales tax to the state.