Online Sales Tax Collection At All-Time High

Online sales tax collections have hit an all-time high in Ohio this year. The state has collected $45 million from out-of-state retailers in the 2014 budget year. That's a 68 percent increase over the past five years. The money is pouring in after Ohio officially joined a multi-state effort to streamline sales tax for online purchases. The Ohio Department of Taxation estimates that the state stands to eventually tap into an estimated $308 million worth of tax revenue from online sales. Still, Ohio doesn't have legal authority to collect from online retailers who don't operate in a physical location in the state, such as Amazon. The result: Many buyers don't get charged sales tax on millions of dollars' worth of purchases.