In Southwest Florida and around the state, it's you Mr. and Ms. Consumer. Each time you buy online, you must pay sales tax. A lot of virtual vendors aren't obligated to collect and remit to Florida, so buyers are supposed to fill out a DR15MO form and mail it in with the sales tax, says Dave Bruns of the Florida Department of Revenue. The reality is multitudes of e-tail shoppers are breaking the law by not paying up, either through ignorance or by choice.

Determining how much the scofflaws are costing government is difficult because there is no monitoring system, Bruns says. But a University of Tennessee study conducted by Bill Fox and Donald Bruce of the school's Center for Business and Economic Research estimated total U.S. losses of $13.3 billion in 2001.

The Internet sales-tax onus on buyers stems, in part, from Supreme Court decisions in the late 1960s and in 1992 that companies weren't responsible for collecting taxes for states in which they did not have a substantial physical presence, says Boca Raton tax attorney Marvin Kirsner. That applied mostly to mail order and catalog businesses, and now those rulings are applicable to online vendors.

But those protections could become moot through federal legislation, hence a push to approve the Streamlined Sales Tax Use Agreement. To motivate sellers, a countrywide movement is afoot for states to adopt the agreement. The measure, in essence, greatly simplifies tax codes to make it easier and more cost-effective for vendors to collect and pay states that charge sales tax, says the Florida Revenue Department's Marshall Stranburg. At least 18 states are in the loop, but vendor compliance is voluntary. That could change if Congress mandates the agreement. But for now, not enough states are participating to prompt such lawmaking. Florida is among states that have resisted adopting agreement. Some argue that placing such a burden on e-sellers could harm their profitability or turn off potential Internet entrepreneurs.

So who gets hurt when e-tail tax goes unpaid? Largely, it's the state, but some of the 6 percent sales tax is supposed to trickle down to local government, says D.T. Minich, executive director of the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau. And in Florida, which has no state income tax, sales taxes are crucial for generating revenue, says Kirsner, who represents both online vendors and traditional retailers. Counties can miss out on bed taxes. When travelers book local rooms online, the purchasing service typically doesn't collect-and chances are minimal that guests will voluntarily pay. Minich is unsure of how much is lost. "It's hard to get your arms around," he says.

County officials and the Florida Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus support congressional action to enforce the streamlined agreement, he says. If that happens, the benefits will spread to the local business community as well.

"Others who stand to gain (from the agreement) include brick-and-mortar retailers that are at a competitive disadvantage by having to collect sales tax," Kirsner says, "while e-commerce competitors do not."

-Phil Borchmann