WASHINGTON, May 7 (RAPSI) - The US Senate has passed a bill that, if enacted, will give states the power to enforce sales tax laws on online purchases. The bill is pending the lower house hearing.

The Senate voted 69 to 27 to back the measure.

The bill stipulates that state authorities could charge sales tax on online sales even if the seller is not located in the state where the purchase took place.

US sales tax rates vary from state to state from less than 1% to over 10% of the purchase price.

Large Web retailers formerly viewed tax-free operations as a major competitive advantage.

The bill is supported by most state authorities, which lose billions annually on this tax benefit. Large conventional retailers welcome the bill as well.
The National Retail Federation has welcomed the Senate's decision. The bills critics include Web retailers, tax activists and congress members from the few states where there is no sales tax.

Now that the Senate has passed the bill, it will move to the House of Representatives legal committee. As of now, the states have practically no way of taxing Web retailers who are not represented in their territory.

A number of states have passed legislation that requires a buyer to pay a tax when filing their annual tax returns, but not all taxpayers fulfill this requirement.