Kinda sorta.
If I live in New York and go across the border to New Jersey and buy a watch from a brick and mortar store there, I get a credit against New Jersey use tax when I bring it back home. In essence, I'm supposed to pay the greater of the two taxes in total.
The states absolutely detest e-commerce and particularly eBay, because it is impossible for them to enforce their state's law against a seller in another state without physical presence in that state, The US Supreme Court upheld this principle in the Quill case mentioned in the Forbes article. You are correct that some states ask for a surcharge on state income tax returns for estimated use taxes on internet purchases. There are a few states that have no state income tax, so it is even more difficult to enforce the law in these states. My home state of Florida is one of these.
The IRS has nothing to do with the collection of state sales tax. They are a federal agency, just like Inland Revenue in the UK. That function is reserved under our Constitution to the governments of each of 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, and several Pacific island archipelagos. And yes, some state departments of revenue maintain offices in other states. I've handled state income tax audits from California where the agent was located in Chicago and flew down to Florida to meet with me.
If I go to a foreign country and purchase an expensive watch there, pay VAT and I'm unable for some reason to reclaim that tax, I get triple taxed. First the VAT, then Customs upon return to the US, lastly the use tax, since foreign VAT or GST is generally not creditable against state sales tax.
Now you know why tax evasion is virtually a national sport in the US. In some states it is almost impossible to avoid evading taxes, even if you don't want to.
Isn't being an American fun?
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