buckworks - 9:15 pm on Mar 9, 2010 (gmt 0)

According to current law, only the primary residence of the buyer matters.

That's kinda dumb right there. If I go shopping in person when I'm travelling, no one offers me any tax exemptions based on my primary residence, I just get charged sales taxes based on the location I'm visiting, the location of the seller.

If I want to recover those taxes I have to make application later, and the process for that is not well designed and even less well promoted.

If sales taxes were consistently based on the location of the SELLER, regardless of who is making the purchase (or via what medium), that would cut through the Gordian knot.

That's effectively what happens now for in-person shopping; make that official and extend it to all shopping.

Each seller would have to comply with the tax rates of their own jurisdiction but not the maze of rates where their purchasers might come from.

As Tangor points out, the most challenging aspect of addressing the situation would be getting all the states to agree.

Turf wars impede a lot of progress....