Prepare to say goodbye to the good old days of tax-free online shopping. A new rule allowing states to collect online sales tax is likely to be passed by Congress by the end of the year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
That, dear shoppers, could add as much as $167 to your e-shopping bill in 2016, according to a blog post in Forbes.
The average consumer will spend $1,738 per year online shopping by 2016, according to Forrester Research. With a sales tax of 9.6 percent (which the national average of state and local tax rates), consumers can expect to pay as much as $167 more for their online purchases.
Two bills currently being considered by Congress, the Marketplace Equity Act and the Marketplace Fairness Act, would allow state governments to require retailers in other states to collect and remit sales tax on purchases. State governments currently lose billions of dollars a year due to their inability to collect a sales tax on all online purchases.
Some of the biggest online merchants, like Amazon.com and Walmart.com, already charge sales tax for residents in some states, but many smaller merchants do not. Both bills that are being considered, contain exemptions for small businesses.