Opinion: The key to $900-million

There's one tax bill that ought to be an easy sell even to Gov. Jeb Bush and the Florida House of Representatives. It would simplify the sales tax in keeping with an agreement signed last fall by Florida, 32 other states and the District of Columbia. This is a key to collecting nearly $900-million in sales taxes that people already owe but don't pay.

If enough states follow through, some major Internet and mail-order retailers will begin voluntarily collecting sales taxes that an unenforceable state law already requires. More significantly, Congress has signaled it would then require all remote sellers to begin processing state sales taxes.

Florida, like most states, applies its sales tax to merchandise that's bought or ordered elsewhere for use by Florida residents. gress' much-ballyhooed "Internet moratorium" does not -- repeat not -- forbid these taxes. But the Supreme Court has ruled that without positive congressional action in support of the states, remote sellers can't be compelled to collect and forward the taxes.

It's not just that Florida could put the missing money to good use. It is also a matter of fairness to competing Florida merchants, a point underscored by a broad coalition of business lobbies that advocate the proposed legislation.

The bill is assured of broad support in the Senate, but its prospects elsewhere in Tallahassee are uncertain. However, this is one tax bill everyone should want to support. No new tax is involved; only fairness in application of a tax that's already on the books.

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