Poll: Most voters reject adding state sales tax to Internet purchases

HAMDEN, Conn., May 2 (UPI) -- U.S. voters, by a 56 percent-to-37 percent margin, oppose levying state sales tax on Internet purchases, a Quinnipiac University poll indicated.

Voters over the age of 65 said they favor taxing Internet sales, 49 percent to 45 percent, but all other demographic groups were opposed, survey results released Thursday indicated.

The Senate is scheduled to vote next week on a bill that would allow states to compel online retailers, regardless of their physical location, to collect state and local sales taxes for purchases made over the Internet and return those taxes to the states where a shopper lives. Currently, states can only require online stores to collect sales taxes if they also have a physical presence in the state.

Democrats were closely divided, with 46 percent saying they favored adding state sales tax to 45 percent opposed, the Hamden, Conn., university said. Republicans rejected the idea, with 33 percent saying they favored the levy and 61 percent saying they opposed.

Results of the Quinnipiac poll are based on phone surveys with 1,471 registered voters conducted April 25-29. The margin of error is 2.6 percentage points.