Politics

Trump Is Reportedly Pushing For Sales Tax On Online Purchases

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says President Trump "feels strongly" about applying sales tax to online purchases.

Trump Is Reportedly Pushing For Sales Tax On Online Purchases
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President Donald Trump says he "feels strongly" that sales tax should apply to online purchases, according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

States can't make online retailers collect sales tax unless the companies have a physical presence there. So, some retailers — like Amazon — are mostly exempt.

Amazon actually started collecting sales tax in most states early last year. An exception is if a consumer buys something from one of Amazon's third-party retailers.

Still, taxing online purchases is a hot-button issue. Some brick-and-mortar retailers view the exemption as unfair, and many lawmakers have tried to get legislation through the pipeline for years without success.

 Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.