Free Republic

Proposed Internet sales-tax legislation received a huge boost on Monday when the White House officially backed the bill, saying it would level the playing field among online and retail stores by ensuring that both pay sales taxes. “Today, while local small-business retailers follow the law and collect sales taxes from customers who make purchases in their stores, many big-business online and catalogue retailers do not collect the same taxes,” White House press secretary Jay Carney. “This puts local, neighborhood-based small businesses at a disadvantage to big, out-of-state, online companies.”Now, the Senate is scheduled to debate the Internet sales-tax legislation for...

There's a store in Australia that really hates it when its customers walk around the store without buying anything. Redditor BarrettFox posted a pic of a sign informing shoppers of a new fee at a specialty food store in Brisbane. It's $5 for "just looking." The fee exists to stop people from "showrooming" — which occurs when a customer looks at items in a physical store, then makes the purchase online. The sign assures that you'll have the five dollars deducted from the final purchase price, so you'll get your money back if you buy something.