There is a debate raging not just here in Florida but all over the country regarding online retailers paying sales taxes in the states in which they do business. Every single physical business entity pays it's share of taxes so why not online retailers and services? By not doing this, the Government is losing tens of billions of dollars that could possible make up for some of the deficit issues we face today. As technology advances, there will be new ways to gain income not just for citizens but for governments as well. The argument is also not about paying too much taxes. One such example is Florida lawmakers want Internet retailers such as Amazon to start collecting and handing over sales taxes when consumers in the Sunshine State shop online. This would be a new source of revenue for many possible projects. Retailers that sell the same items in physical stores are at a disadvantage when compared to their online counterparts who have lower costs just to begin with and may be more able to afford such a tax. There always a fine balance between profits and taxes.
In fact, if you compare tax rates in the US and the rest of the industrialized world where social systems are more liberal but not socialist, you'll see citizens paying more than Americans in taxes. One example of this are the countries of Scandinavia: Sweden, Finland and Denmark and rest assured, they are NOT socialist.
Obviously there are consequences for taxing online business as well. It opens up a "can of worms" of sorts but those issues need to be looked into and addressed but both business and government alike. Also, it's government's job to make sure the playing field is "even" for business. It's not good business to have physical retailers pay more than their online counterparts because then that's just a complete and total disadvantage. There alsways needs to be ways to even the keel of competition and not let any one sector outpace another because, like monopolies, it stifles competition, rather than encourages it.
