Tax panel wants a cut from Web

TALLAHASSEE - Florida is losing more than $2-billion a year in revenue from untaxed Internet sales, and a panel of state leaders said Friday it's time the state joined 22 other states and went after that money.

Citing explosive growth in e-commerce, members of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission endorsed taxing remote sales as a way to tax all sales the same and to expand the tax base at a time when Florida faces serious revenue shortfalls.

"This is not a new tax or changing an exemption," said Julia Johnson, a member of the commission's Finance and Taxation Committee. "This is about collections."

The unanimous vote by eight of the 11 members of the committee was its first foray in the highly controversial arena of changing Florida's tax system. The vote was no more than a consensus to seek the full 25-member commission's support, but it was a start.

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