[Semiapies]

And web retailers are willing to handle sales taxes where their stores are. The difference is that they're being expected to handle sales taxes for cities and states they don't actually have any presence in - ie, in every state and municipality that has a sales tax.

[Turing_Machine]

Indeed. I live in one city and do most of my work in a neighboring city. They both have sales taxes, but the rates are different, and (more important for this discussion) the exceptions (which rate applies to a specific item) are subtly different. I've been here ten years and I still have to think about it -- when I care. Usually I don't bother to worry about it; it's not a significant difference on most individual purchases. A retailer wouldn't have that luxury. And how in the world is a retailer supposed to determine if I'm buying the item in City A and using it in City B, or vice-versa? That happens a lot - the shipping address I give has more to do with where I'm likely to be at delivery time than where the item will actually be used. Will City A start demanding its cut of items delivered in City B? Will I have to pay taxes to both cities? What happens if I rent a mail drop in neighboring Village C that doesn't even have a local sales tax? What happens when a state with major online retailers (say, "Washingham") starts levying a punitive counter-tax on items purchased from a state (say, "Sickinois") that's insistent on collecting mail-order sales tax? That'll do wonders for the Sickinois economy, won't it?