Sales Tax Group Seeks to Help States Avoid Federal Law Conflicts

States in nearly half the country should be allowed to exempt digital works sold for educational purposes without running afoul of a sales tax pact, the overseers of that agreement said Friday.

The Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board announced plans on Friday to tweak its rules to allow states to enact laws that exempt from sales tax digital audio-visual works that could include e-books, virtual seminars, educational films. The board administers a 24-state agreement to simplify sales tax codes.

Some states may want to exempt those works to avoid challenges under the Internet Tax Freedom Act, which prevents states from ...