Internet's taxing times (week in review)

We may be basking in the waning sunlight of tax-free Internet shopping.

A senator is preparing to introduce legislation that would rewrite the ground rules for Internet and mail order sales by eliminating the ability of Americans to shop at Web sites like Amazon.com and Overstock.com without paying state sales taxes.

"Why should out-of-state companies that sell their products online have an unfair advantage over Main Street bricks-and-mortar businesses?" Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said in a speech in Collinsville, Ill., in February.

Durbin, the second most senior Senate Democrat, will introduce the bill after the Easter recess, a Democratic aide told CNET. At the moment, Americans who shop over the Internet from out-of-state vendors aren't always required to pay sales taxes at the time of purchase.

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Also of note
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