 "There's lots of people who believe if they buy something online,
they have no tax obligation, and that's not true," said Mike Klemens,
spokesman for the Illinois Department of Revenue. "If you buy
something online and the retailer does not collect Illinois tax,
then your obligation is to self-report that tax and pay it over to
the Department of Revenue."Navigating the web of businesses that
collect state sales taxes and those that don't can be tricky. If you
buy a book from Amazon.com, you don't pay a sales tax upfront. But
if you buy that same book from Borders.com, that extra 6.25 percent
will be included on your invoice. That's because Borders has actual
brick-and-mortar stores in Illinois.
Online shoppers must fill out a form and send in a check to the
state for the sales tax the online and catalog stores don't collect.
However, starting next year, there will be a line on the standard
income tax form for people to claim sales tax. This comes in
conjunction with a new state law that grants an online sales tax
amnesty beginning Jan. 1 and running until Oct. 15.
Kim Clarke Maisch, Illinois state director at National Federation
of Independent Businesses, said a plan that relies on the consumer
to do so much work to pay a tax is flawed.
"I'm not sure how realistic the plan is," Maisch said. "Are those
of us who are shopping online in our pajamas late at night really
going to keep track of unpaid sales tax and report it at the end of
the year?"
Illinois is missing out on approximately $169 million in revenue
because of people not following the law, according to a Department
of Revenue report. Klemens said the changes could double the amount
the state brings in through online and catalog sales tax, but he
said the total would still only add up to $10 million to $12
million.
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"If we put it actually on the return, more people will learn
about it, and if people know they have the obligation, by and large
people will pay it. … It's an honor system, but what we do, do, we
enforce use tax where we can," Klemens said.
Because of a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the state can't
force businesses that don't have physical locations in Illinois to
assess sales taxes. For that to happen, the federal government would
have to intervene through legislation.
"We'll do what we can here with increasing education and
voluntary compliance, but the ultimate solution is a federal law
change. It does not make sense to be trying to collect from 12
million Illinois residents when you could be collecting from a
handful of Internet sellers," Klemens said.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By ANDREW THOMASON]
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