Don’t mind the dismal economy, local governments want more of your money

Prepare your wallet to get squeezed again.

Since 2000, there has been an effort to have the U.S. Congress pass legislation in compliance with the Streamlined Sales Tax Project. This is a bureaucratic way of saying that local governments want more of your hard-earned money. They’re not entitled to it now under the law, but approving federal legislation would give taxing bodies an additional entryway into your personal finances.

This project is a response to a previous U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said states may not compel businesses selling merchandise online to collect sales tax if these companies are not located in those states. If I buy something from a company in Texas, for example, Illinois does not have the authority to force the firm to collect sales tax for Illinois.

The Supreme Court ruled that the varying formulas used by different states made it too complex to enforce interstate sales tax measures. However, if Congress passed legislation that would uniform much of this process, then states would be allowed to collect sales tax off purchases from out-of-state companies.

So guess who’s been working hard to have Congress pass such legislation? People representing municipal governments, such as members of the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference. They met Tuesday in Oak Brook to discuss some common goals, including their desire to wrench more money out of residents already worn out by months of dismal economic news.

Members of the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference appear favorable to having Congress enact legislation that would open the door for municipalities to collect sales tax revenue from online transactions. Nothing is out of reach of the hands of local tax collectors.

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