Billions Lost as Thousands of Sellers Flout State Sales Tax Laws

State revenue agencies are finally getting serious about requiring out-of-state retailers to collect tax on e-commerce transactions, frustrated that less than half of such sellers are in full compliance with their sales tax codes.

A more aggressive compliance posture is emerging three years after the U.S. Supreme Court created a framework for the 45 sales tax states to require out-of-state retailers to collect tax on online sales.

The new tone reflects the fact that only a fraction of the estimated 2.1 million online merchants operating in the U.S. are collecting from customers and remitting to states that have established such ...