On this first day of June, the commerce on the internet changed. Retailers online are obligated by legislation to collect a sales tax in New York. This is now a legislative requirement for New York state:

“…Amazon.com had posted the following on its website:

Due to a new law recently passed by the state of New York, we are required to collect NY sales taxes on taxable items sold by Amazon.com on or after June 1, 2008. If your order is placed prior to June 1, your Order Total may not include an estimate of NY sales taxes, but those taxes may still be charged if your order is readied for shipment on or after that date.”"

link: Collection of sales tax on Internet purchases starts today

The long term impact will be that the retailers will have more paper work and more staff hours dedicated to meeting this legislation. This will trickle down to the consumer in further price increases, in addition to the expense of the actual tax itself. The government has made buying online more expensive.

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster:  http://flyinghamster.com/