Supreme Court Hearing Case About Online Sales Tax Collection

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The United States Supreme Court is hearing arguments Tuesday about whether businesses must be forced to collect sales taxes on online purchases.

Phil Kronebusch is a political science professor at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University. He says large retailers support the move.

Target and Best Buy are two Minnesota examples that are really on the side of South Dakota here because they have to collect sales tax because they have stores throughout the country.

Right now, if a business is shipping a product to a state where it doesn't have an office, warehouse, or other physical presence, it doesn't have to collect the state's sales tax.

Kronebusch says Amazon used to oppose the idea, but now as they add more warehouses like the one in Shakopee they support it.

More than 40 states want the Supreme Court to abandon the rule.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case in the coming months.