Wisconsin to begin collecting online sales taxes Oct. 1

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - Gov. Scott Walker's administration will begin collecting online sales tax revenue Oct. 1.

The collection will generate an additional $90 million in revenue over the next year, and $120 million the following year, according to an analysis released Monday by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Gov. Scott Walker, shown at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee last spring, said the state would start collecting sales tax on internet sales beginning Oct. 1, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled states could collect the tax.

Wispolitics.com first reported on Walker's plans. A spokeswoman for Walker said the office plans to notify retailers.

The new tax revenue is made possible by a June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that said states could collect taxes for online sales far more broadly than before.

Collecting online sales tax in Wisconsin means taxpayers here will see an estimated $52 reduction in their income taxes, according to the Fiscal Bureau, citing a 2013 budget provision that said if the state started collecting taxes from online purchases, it would cut income tax rates by a like amount.

Walker and Revenue Secretary Rick Chandler have said they would seek to collect online sales tax and reduce income taxes if the recent Supreme Court decision triggered the 2013 provision in state law.

Wisconsin's sales tax is 5%. Milwaukee County and 65 other counties charge a 0.5% sales tax and some special tax districts — such as the one for Miller Park — charge a 0.1% sales tax.

Reporter Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.