Cnet is reporting that internet tax supporters, with backing from Walmart, Macy's, and Best Buy, are hoping a Senate vote will give them enough political leverage to require Americans to pay sales tax when shopping online.

Sens. Mike Enzi (R-Wy.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are expected to offer an amendment to a Democratic budget resolution this week that, by allowing states to "collect taxes on remote sales," is intended to usher in the first national Internet sales tax.



As a practical matter, many Americans already pay sales taxes on Internet purchases, either from big box retailers' Web sites or from online retailers like Amazon.com that have generated nexus by opening warehouses or subsidiaries in more states. Smaller retailers, including Newegg.com, Overstock.com, Blue Nile, Systemax's TigerDirect.com, and eBay sellers are less likely to have nexus, meaning their purchases would arrive tax-free (use taxes, however, may still apply).

Supporters of Internet tax legislation say they're optimistic. "It's bound to happen," says Schatz, from the National Retail Federation. "It's just a matter of when."