As work continues to craft the next state budget, Governor Jim Doyle says he wants to take another look at how to tax purchases made on the Internet by Wisconsinites. Doyle says we should join the growing number of states who are trying to make sure state and local merchants are being treated fairly when it comes to online sales.
Incoming Department of Administration Secretary Michael Morgan says it needs to be done. Morgan says it's not fair that businesses who are based in Wisconsin and pay taxes here are forced to pay sales taxes, when businesses that exist largely on the Internet don't have to pay anything here.
The proposal has been made in the previous two budgets by the governor, but lost Republican support late in the process. Doyle hopes the addition of more Democrats in the Legislature will lead to a different outcome during the next budget process.