![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2011\/10\/use_tax.jpg\" "\\"Use")
<\/a><\/p>\nJoe Wertz \/ NPR StateImpact<\/p>\n
Oklahomans are supposed to declare the amount of purchases from retailers that don't collect state sales taxes.<\/p>\n<\/div>
The use tax, also known as the \u201cInternet sales tax,\u201d covers items purchased from retailers that don\u2019t collect Oklahoma sales taxes.<\/p>
The problem is obvious: Taxpayers don\u2019t seem inclined to self-report such purchases, and states like Oklahoma are losing millions.<\/p>
From Oklahoma\u2019s income tax packet:<\/p>\n
If you have purchased items for use in Oklahoma from retailers who do not collect Oklahoma sales tax whether by mail order, catalog, television shopping networks, radio, Internet, phone or in person, you owe Oklahoma use tax on those items.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>
<\/em>Nationwide, consumers are collectively responsible for a $23 billion deficit in taxes from Internet purchases, Paula Ross, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Tax Commission told The Oklahoman<\/em><\/a>. Ross, citing a study from the University of Tennessee (right-click here<\/a> to download) analyzing state-by-state use taxes, said Oklahoma could be losing between $185 million to $225 million in such tax revenues each year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s no way to be sure if those are exactly correct, but as more and more people shop online, it’s fairly reasonable to expect that we’re losing that kind of money,\u201d she told reporter Andrew Knittle.<\/p><\/blockquote>
The issue is two-fold.<\/p>
First, States can\u2019t collect online use taxes on their own. Doing so would violate interstate commerce laws, Ross told the paper.<\/p>
Second, consumers are basically on an honor system when it comes to declaring their online purchases.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe burden is on the consumers,\u201d Ross told the paper. \u201cWe cannot make them pay the tax.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>
Ross said it will ultimately be up to the federal government to take on the online use tax issue.<\/p>
U.S. Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Illinois) recently proposed a federal law requiring Internet retailers to collect sales taxes, but the New York Times<\/em> reported<\/a> that the measure has yet to gain much traction.<\/p>