[TheRiddick]

Internet sales is still a very gray area. Years ago they were designated as "tax free" to stimulate sales and make people actually buy online. A couple of times since then our great government attempted to change that, but IIRC, they still have not changed that. So that Amazon/eBay/etc purchase is legal, still. And pretty much any other internet purchase. Businesses that collect taxes on internet sales are those that have a B&M or offices in the state you reside in, and they treat those sales same as any local sales had you been buying at the B&M instead. If a business does not have a B&M/office presence in your state they do not have to collect taxes.

When businesses file their quarterly sales tax reports with the state, there is a separate bucket for sales to out of state customers with no tax to be collected nor reported.

Will that change? Maybe. But that will immediately kill a bunch of businesses, even those with B&M outlets (or at least make them earn much less). Amazon, as an example here, included. Imagine all the used book/CD/whatever sellers having to file taxes and paperwork with each state, it won't be worth anyone's time nor profits.

Sounds like a B&M owner is either playing it fast and lose (with the originator of this rumor) or simply not aware of special internet sales provisions put in place back in '90s and still in force. What the poster should do is go back and ask the B&M owner to see a blank state tax board form, there WILL BE a bucket that says, Out of State Non Taxable sales. Either the owner is clueless or dishonest since if anyone from another state calls him to buy and ship, the owner will not collect any tax on that sale. And I doubt he os not aware of this.

I deal with wine sales, same agency (ATF) and same state tax people.