Online shopping threatens N.J. tax coffers

With more people doing their holiday shopping on the web, New Jersey’s tax coffers are taking a hit. John Holub is President of the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association. He says the state is losing hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue because online-only sellers don’t have to add the seven percent sales tax to purchases.Holub says that tax loophole is a threat to brick and mortar stores, “Main street retailers are being threatened of having to close their doors and lock them up and go out of business because of this unfair advantage that these online-only retailers are exploiting.”Holub says buyers are supposed to pay that uncollected tax when filing their income tax returns, but only about one percent actually do.  He’s hopeful the Legislature will act to require all retailers to collect the sales tax.