A New Tax Could Make Online Shopping More Expensive

A proposed bill would add a tax to your online purchases.

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It looks like there is some potentially bad news for online shoppers. On Monday, the House put forth a bill that would add a new tax to online purchases. 

The bill would overturn a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that determined that online retailers weren't required to collect a tax from customers unless they had a significant physical presence in the state. The proposed Remote Transaction Parity Act would now require online retailers to collect a tax from buyers located in remote states.

So far, the bill has gained a lot of supporters. Many feel the passing of the bill would even the field for online sellers and struggling brick-and-mortar stores. 

“RTPA will provide sales tax parity at the point of purchase, so that Main Street retailers do not face a competitive disadvantage because they are required to collect the sales tax owed on purchases while remote and online sellers are not required to collect the tax," said Senior Vice President of Government Relations David French​ in a statement from the National Retail Federation.

In 2013, the Marketplace Fairness Act proposed a similar Internet tax, but the bill never made it through Congress.

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