The legislation now before Congress simply allows states to collect sales taxes (if the states have sales taxes) on transactions to residents of their states by

The legislation now before Congress simply allows states to collect sales taxes (if the states have sales taxes) on transactions to residents of their states by online retailers. (There was a special act of Congress that exempted online retailers that don't have "nexus" in a particular state from such taxes.) The immediate effect of this legislation, in my opinion, is that Amazon will open a distribution center in my metropolitan area, located in a state with sales tax, and offer same-day delivery for Prime customers. And I will probably take up Amazon on that offer rather than shop in my locally owned retail chains such as Target (walking distance from my home) and BestBuy (which I loathe shopping at, and hardly ever visit). The United States Senators from my state support allowing states to impose sales taxes on online retail transactions, because Target and BestBuy (and some other large retailers) employ a lot of their constituents, and because new tax revenue for Minnesota will be spent by a governor and legislature who belong to the same political party they do. But I will shop at Amazon if this happens. The new law is not going to hurt my favorite online retailer at all.