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Much as none of us like taxes, it is about time these taxes are collected on internet sales/purchases. It will help all states get back into less of the-red ink than we all are currently seeing. Plus it will help local businesses though that is hardly why states want to collect the sales tax on the purchases where it applies, such as sales to the big publishing houses.
I also don't think Amazon has not been avoiding sales tax, there is no benefit to them in doing so, in fact Amazon could likely make a small profit on interest for the taxes collected as the sit in the bank. At worst they would break even on that side of things.
What businesses are trying to avoid is the huge overhead to determine every single tax district and rates in the US. Now that is a nightmare just thinking about it. Right now a company like Walmart, who already collects these taxes, holds an advantage over Amazon in that they long ago invested in the infrastructure to collect the taxes online. That's probably a pretty significant competitive advantage from a bottom line POV because Amazon would need to invest in this on a much more mature POS system than when Walmart was developing their software. I just find it an interesting thing and if I have to pay taxes at time of purchase, then so be it. We need to start re-investing in out country again and part of that is taxes even if they are Draconian or out dated as implemented.
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