Online Sales Tax

Righty-o it does.
But, what I've heard from the Hill is that it will have a tough go of it in the House.

Does this just apply to sales taxes or does it also extend to other taxes, like tobacco taxes?

I didnt read all the ammendments, but the main point of the bill is to authorize states to collect sales tax from online retailers - regardless of whether or not that retailer has a physical presence in a state.
Currently, states may only collect sales tax from online retailers that have physical facilities within state borders. Really, this is senator bowing to the pressure of thier state governments to help them increase thier tax revenue.
Where it effects tobacco is that states will be able to apply their existing sales taxes to online purchases, so if you live in a state with high tobacco taxes, you get stuck paying those no matter where you shop.

So what you're saying is in the future it may be cheaper to get our tobacco shipped to a friend in a lower tobacco tax state and then shipped from there better stock up before its taxed to hell

Move here! There are no sales taxes. No sin tax on tobacco products. Cohiba cigars are $45 for 25, at the local liqueur store, the biggest and the best of course. The little Cohibas are $10 for 25. And no snow. Now if only I could get pipe tobacco here.

Move here! There are no sales taxes. No sin tax on tobacco products. Cohiba cigars are $45 for 25, at the local liqueur store, the biggest and the best of course. The little Cohibas are $10 for 25. And no snow. Now if only I could get pipe tobacco here.

Really, this is senator bowing to the pressure of thier state governments to help them increase thier tax revenue.

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Actually, big retailers are pushing it, as I understand it. Amazon, for example, wants to open new distribution centers in tax states (right now, they're all in no-tax states), but by ramming this through they keep the playing field level (for them). They want more distribution centers in order to cut down on shipping costs and time. Giant megacorps can eat the additional compliance costs easier than smaller, local competitors.
As usual, the politicians are A) clueless and B) subservient to big money.

Went to the Washington state website on taxes. Hold on to your seats!
"The "Other Tobacco Products" tax rate is 95% of the taxable sales price." This is for cigars, and pipe tobacco. Cigarettes are taxed at $3.025 per pack. Liquor taxes are at 20.5%
Our ex-govenorness just retired at $160,000 per year for the rest of her life, and our new govenor needs more tax money. It's like living in the tax twilight zone !!

There's always been pressure from the big box stores ever since Amazon.com really took off and kickstarted the online retailer boom - they lobbied it for more than a decade with no real success. What really pushed Congress toward acting on the bill was the finacial crisis of 2008 when states really started scrambling to increase revenue in the face of shortfalls.
The Big Box lobby may be footing the bill, but it is really pressure from state governments that is driving this bill forward.

The House may not pass the bill. They consider it new taxes. If it happens, most likely state tobacco tax collection will follow. Spud: You said "move here." Where is that?

Actually, big retailers are pushing it, as I understand it. Amazon, for example, wants to open new distribution centers in tax states (right now, they're all in no-tax states), but by ramming this through they keep the playing field level (for them). They want more distribution centers in order to cut down on shipping costs and time. Giant megacorps can eat the additional compliance costs easier than smaller, local competitors.
As usual, the politicians are A) clueless and B) subservient to big money.

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+1
In addition, the way I understand it, Amazon is pushing this because they've developed a system that would make it easy for retailers to calculate the taxes for every customer on the fly.
Without this system, figuring the thousands of unique tax rates around the country would be near impossible. Instead, Amazon will be able to charge a fee for nearly every single online transaction in the U.S.

The Big Box lobby may be footing the bill, but it is really pressure from state governments that is driving this bill forward.

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No, I hear you. The prospect of new revenue streams is like putting out slop for the hogs. Oink, oink. If it works for governments and for big corps, it has a chance of passing.

At the forefront of the push has been Tennessee's two senators. I'm not going to get into politics here, of course, but Tennessee already has a 9.25 percent tax rate on all products. We don't have an income tax, so our sales taxes are high. If this passes, Tennesseans will be paying and extra $9.25 on $100 order of tobacco.
This so-called "fairness" tax is to even the playing field between Internet and bricks and mortar retailers. Uh, no. Oklansas is right. This is a drive by the states to up their tax revenue stream. It's not just tobacco that is going to get it in the neck. Think eBay buyers and sellers. Could be a nightmare for that big kahuna.
But, wait! Amazon has a new plan. It wants to sell its new software to states that handles all these taxing authorities. I never would have guessed. Amazon taking advantage of a situation it helped create? Naw.
Tennessee has been an experiement for Amazon for the past couple of years. It has a huge warehouse in Chattanooga. We've been paying the tax on ordered goods from Amazon for some time now because it has a "phyiscal presence" in the state.
In an effort to keep the politics out of this, I won't report to which political party the two Tennessee senators belong, but it begins with a G and ends with a P. One actually said that, "This is fair because it is a tax that is owed." Huh? A tax that is owed. To whom? Why increase taxes at a time when people are already strapped
Oh, well. I'm stocking up as fast and as financially fast as I can to get ahead of this "fairness" tax and the coming federal tax hammer on pipe tobacco.
et parari debeant dolor

Ten smoker, tennessee also has a 6.6 percent state tax on pipe tobacco. So this would be in addition to the 9.25 percent sales tax if indeed the bill extends to more than just sales taxes (which is still unclear to me based on what I have read)

We will see how it goes. I don't mind paying sales tax but sin tax really grinds my gears :!:

It is a business opportunity for someone to open an online tobacco store. If the volume is kept under $1,000,000 they won't have to collect taxes, and the situation gives them a competitive edge. If I weren't retired I would consider it.

Actually there’s a law that has been in effect for a couple years the makes you personally responsible to file and pay state and local taxes on online purchases. I forget the name of it. Nobody does it, and there’s nobody keeping track. This bill is just forcing the companies to collect the taxes.

i have no problem with paying taxes for what i buy online, HOWEVER it should be decided by where the ONLINE VENDOR is based.

So basically this is like states collecting taxes from the people who are bringing souveniers from out of state vacations.