A sales tax on online retailers is being considered in Lansing
LANSING -- Some Michigan Republican legislators are looking to make online retailers collect the same sales taxes as brick-and-mortar businesses.
Republican Representatives Eileen Kowall of White Lake and Rob VerHuelen of Walker introduced "The Main Street Fairness Act" on Wednesday.
The bill would require online businesses to collect the same 6-percent sales tax that physical businesses in Michigan now collect.
Kowall says the current "unfair advantage" for online retailers is hurting Michigan businesses.
James Hallan, chief executive of the Michigan Retailers Association, says more than two dozen other states have taken action to collect taxes on out-of-state and online retailers.
Hallan also says waiting for a change on the federal level is "false hope."
Kowall introduced similar legislation last year, but it didn't make it through the legislature.
