Don't Mess With Taxes

More of us are spending more of our time online these days. So it's not surprising that Internet related issues were topics of posts last week at my other tax blog.

First came the Senate vote approving the Marketplace Fairness Act. The bill would force most online retailers nationwide to collect sales tax on purchases based on the rates in the buyer's location.

The approval of the bill means that we're closer to paying sales tax on remote purchases.

But don't rush to place all your online orders. The bill must now pass the House, where its prospects are less sure.

Electronic communications also were a hot topic last week, as the Internal Revenue Service made it official that it will not go snooping into individuals' email boxes without first obtaining a warrant.

Before the IRS issued the announcement, there was some concern that a 2011 IRS chief counsel advice memo would give the agency authority to go after most emails using only an administrative summons instead of a warrant.

You also might find these items of interest:

• Celebs are target of IRS snoop
• IRS privacy protections look pretty darn good
• Possibility of IRS access to taxpayer email without warrants raises privacy concerns