Internet tax. Will it happen?

Brace yourselves. This may be the last tax-free online shopping holiday, according to a Forbes story. With record budget deficits and increased Internet spending, some say paying sales tax online is inevitable.

"The idea, which would levy sales tax on most goods bought online, has been tossed around for nearly a decade," the story says. "States are coming up with huge deficits and looking for places to make money," one legal expert said. "All of a sudden, Internet taxation appears a lot more viable."

I'm not a lawyer, but because states have the power to set their own sales tax, how would they agree to one flat tax for online shoppers? Would it matter which state you lived in and which state you were buying from?

Advocates of an Internet tax are working through the legislature "because the Supreme Court ruled in the 1990s that states can't require out-of-state retailers to collect sales tax on online sales."

If a new sales tax horrifies shoppers, will retailers be pressured to "include" tax in the sale price by marking up the goods? Hmmm...