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By Tennessee Report
NASHVILLE — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam insists a federal plan requiring online merchants to collect sales taxes is the way to go, despite it meaning online shoppers would be forced to cough up more money for government to spend.
Fresh from testifying before Congress in favor of such a plan, Haslam said Wednesday that the current system is “enabling people to get around the law.”
“The tax is already due. There’s no question,” he told reporters. “I think the basic thing is an issue of fairness. If you’re a hardware store out here on Main Street or a business of any type, you’re competing with people on the Internet who don’t have to collect the sales tax. I just don’t think that’s right.”
