Dome: Online tax moving at high speed

Christopher Kaminski is ready to leave Chapel Hill and North Carolina over a proposed tax on online purchases that are linked through N.C.-based web sites.

The measure appears headed for passage without a battle.

Large online retailers like Amazon.com and Overstock.com pay commissions to web sites that steer customers to products on Amazon or Overstock. The budget agreementlawmakers reached Thursday would require the big .com retailers to collect sales tax on those purchases, treating them like brick-and-mortar stores in the state.

State law already requires North Carolinians to pay sales tax on internet purchases, but taxpayers have to report themselves, and few do.

Amazon and Overstock have cancelled their commission programs in North Carolina, and web site operators in the state, like Kaminski, are calling the plan a job killer.

Kaminski, who runs CouponClock.com, was one of dozens of web site operators who recently wrote legislators to oppose the tax. He said his web site is his full time job and the loss of commissions will force him to move, depriving North Carolina of the taxes he pays on his income, his property, his fuel and his boat.

“Instead of making money,” Kaminski wrote, “North Carolina will see a decrease of over $30,000 in tax revenue from my family alone.”

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