Online Sales Tax

One more reason to put your dollars to work in Texarkana

For quite a while now, one of the advantages to shopping online has been freedom from sales taxes.

One might say it was a big part of shaping the internet commerce boom over the past couple of decades.

That it spurred growth and innovation was one of the strongest arguments for the exemption.

But it couldn’t last forever. As more and more money moved online, there was less spent offline.

That made it inevitable that the days when someone could order an item from out of state and avoid taxes would have to end.

Take Arkansas. On July 1, Act 822 kicked in and now retailers who sell online to state residents are required to charge and remit sales tax to the Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration in Little Rock, no matter where the seller is located.

Some bigger online companies like Amazon have already started charging sales tax to Arkansas residents.

Now all businesses must do so, with the exception of small companies with fewer than 200 sales in the state each year.

There are those who may cry foul, but we all knew this was coming. States don’t want to lose out on revenue.

And brick-and-mortar companies don’t like internet retailers having such a powerful edge. Online commerce is a mature industry now. It’s time to play by the same rules as local businesses.

So what does that mean for Texarkana residents? Not much for most, who will likely just accept the change and go on doing what they’ve been doing.

But we hope it will inspire at least some to consider shopping here at home before they go online.

Local dollars spent locally do a lot of good for the community as a whole. It helps your family and friends as well. Those dollars mean jobs.

And now that sales tax advantage is gone, there’s even more reason to shop the Twin Cities first.