Bloomberg Tax
June 22, 2021, 8:46 AM

Billions Lost as Thousands of Sellers Flout State Sales Tax Laws

Michael J. Bologna
Michael J. Bologna
Staff Correspondent
Tripp Baltz
Tripp Baltz
Staff Correspondent

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 ...