After an hour of questions and debate this morning, the House Rev & Tax Committee ran out of time on the question of whether to introduce the streamlined sales tax legislation, which would position Idaho to be able to charge sales tax on Internet sales if Congress approves that; the committee will take the issue back up again tomorrow. "We can start to do something very good for business in Idaho," sponsor Rep. Jeff Nessett, R-Lewiston, told the committee; he's co-sponsoring the bill with Rev & Tax Chairman Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot, and Rep. Bill Killen, D-Boise. "We can make a statement this morning to our existing brick-and-mortar businesses in Idaho," he said, toward "eliminating the 6 percent disadvantage that they have in competing with online competitors outside the state." Nessett added, "Equally important, this will impose no new taxes." That's because Idahoans who make online or catalog purchases from out-of-state companies already are required to self-report that and pay the 6 percent tax on their Idaho income tax returns; hardly anyone does, and there's little enforcement.

Rep. Lenore Barrett, R-Challis, who said, "I don't use the Internet" other than for email, declared, "I really don't feel that I need to pay Idaho sales tax on something I buy somewhere else," and asked, "Why are our retailers to reluctant to compete with each other?" Lake noted, "The sales and use tax is a consumption tax - it is on consumption. So that's why you pay the sales and use tax where you buy the product."

Rep. Dell Raybould, R-Rexburg, said, "Don't get me wrong - I'm not opposed to this collecting sales tax on Internet sales. I think we owe that to our local people. But I do have concerns with this legislation. ... This bill is so complex."

This year's bill is 79 pages long, detailing how Idaho will update its definitions for sales tax purposes to qualify for participation in the multistate streamlined sales tax project. Lake said last year, he proposed a simple, one-page bill to just put Idaho at the table, but House Speaker Lawerence Denney held it at the desk, and instructed him instead to come forward with legislation showing what it would take "for this to happen for Idaho." That's what this year's lengthier bill shows, he said. It calls for Idaho to become a member of the project on July 1, 2013.

After the hour-long meeting, House Assistant Majority Leader Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said, "I support the concept, but we'd better know exactly what we're getting into here." However, he said, "A 79-page bill shouldn't scare anyone. This is a complicated issue, and we ought to be able to work our way through it."