You wanna pay this way, or you wanna pay that way?
The Senate has voted in favor of the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would give each state the authority to compel online businesses to collect applicable taxes.
The House has yet to tackle the issue. But we are already hearing arguments that if the House nixes the move (a reasonable bet) we may see some higher state gas taxes.
The reasoning is simple enough: States are facing major, prolonged budget shortfalls and the taxes from online sales are a potential windfall. And infrastructure would be almost certainly be a major recipient.
Some states are already openly counting the money; others are almost certainly counting it in smoke-filled rooms behind closed doors. And when politicians count chickens early they almost always commit the eggs as payment for something.
If the House says ‘No’ to collecting online sales taxes goes the argument, higher gas taxes would be one of the ways to pay for infrastructure projects that were to be paid for with the egg money.