Of the nearly $13 billion in taxable retail goods sold online in 1999 in the United States, only 20% was taxed by the states, according to a study by Forrester Research, Cambridge, MA. Although $140 million in taxes was collected from online purchases, $525 million was left uncollected. The five states that lost the greatest amount of online sales tax revenue were: California, $73.8 million; Texas, $51.9 million; Illinois, $32.6 million; Florida, $30.3 million; and New York, $26.6 million. “For several reasons, Forrester believes that Internet, catalog and brick-and-mortar sales should all be taxed the same, based on a buyer’s physical location,” said eBusiness Trade Research analyst Steven J. Kafka, in a statement. “New technology will enable companies to easily collect taxes across multiple locations.”
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