EDIT: A new online sales tax?

So remember when you could buy things online from Delaware and not pay a sales tax? Well, that luxury may be coming to an end. The Marketplace Fairness Act, backed by Amazon.com, won by a landslide when Senate voted 75 – 22 in favor of the bill and shows signs of passing by the end of the week, NBC News reports. The House may not see the bill for some time, but there already seem to be many supporters.

Essentially what will happen is when you buy something online, and your state has sales tax, the seller, even if he or she is in another state, must honor your state’s sales tax when billing you.

Although this seems like a tax hike, it coincides with the sales taxes we already pay in person. States are missing up to $24 billion in tax revenue yearly because there are no set online shopping sales tax regulations, according to The New York Times. The bill makes a lot of sense from an economic standpoint. Plenty of states will pull in more money and give in-person shops a fighting chance — not that stores are totally failing because of online shopping.

People will surely react negatively to this bill because it seems to be a tax hike. However, it actually mirrors the sales taxes in their states. Now, when you buy anything in New Jersey, even if it’s all the way in Montana, you would be paying the same tax as if you bought it in person. The location of the buyer now dictates whether or not he or she pays a sales tax, not the location of that cell phone case or mustache mug.

But remember, it is the federal government’s responsibility to oversee state-to-state commerce and trade. The bill does not increase or decrease sales tax in any state. It just assures that retailers are collecting taxes on products that could be sold in person. This does, however, bring criticism because the tax allows states to affect commerce in other states.

Let’s face it, though. Nobody wants to pay more taxes if they already do not have to. However, this is not a significant increase. If we can afford a 45-cent tax on a box of Sharpies, or $4 on textbooks in person, we can afford this online sales tax.