New York is entitled to collect taxes, but not this way
US law is very specific in prohibiting taxation on interstate transactions. This law was put in place because some states and localities were putting tax collectors on their highways to "collect taxes" at the point of a gun. Yes, state sponsored highwaymen.
US law is also very well decided that a transaction taking place in one state cannot be collected in a different state, and that any remote transaction, i.e. mail order, telephone, internet, takes place where the vendor resides, because that is where the money is collected.
The law is also well decided that a transaction can only be taxed by the authority at the final destination of that physical product, where it will be used. The citizens of New York, and all of the other states, have individually decided that they don't want to pay the taxes the state calls "due". It would be inconvenient, and a real money loser, for the state to have to track down these people and tell them they need to pay their sales tax. It would also be seen as quite draconian for the state to start suing any real number of it's citizens to collect $5.32 for that mp3 player or book.
A national sales tax that replaces the local state, county, city taxes to any degree is also forbidden by the US constitution. No local politician would vote to ratify that kind of amendment - taking away their power to tax.
The simple fact is that bureaucrats always want more money from the people, and people don't want to give more money to the government. Government is always trying to find new ways to force people to pay up, and people are always trying to come up with ways to avoid that.
It's a cat-and-mouse game that will continue, absent an Orwellian dictatorship.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
