CA May Hire Internet Sales Tax Police To Monitor Online Shopping

The Board of Equalization (BOE) says it could raise a billion dollars a year in previously uncollected use taxes, but critics call it haunting to hire “Internet Police”.

One of those critics is Monique Bell, who started My Kid Sister Clothing Company, three years ago in Stockton.

“If you wear it, we sell it,” Bell told CBS 13 inside her Stockton home.

Bell is the owner of My Kid Sister Clothing Company, an Internet portal that allows her customers to find clothes for kids – and the whole family at a discount. She’s concerned by the BOE plan – a staff proposal to identify Internet buyers who use her site and others, to purchase things from out-of-state vendors.

“I think it’s like Big Brother. It’s definitely very chilling,” said Bell. The Internet entrepreneur told CBS 13, “I think our customers are just going to stop buying from us. We’re going to see a dramatic drop in sales.”

Under state law, if you buy something online from an out-of-state company with no physical presence here – since you are not paying sales tax, you are supposed to pay a use tax to the State of California, but many people never do.