As states scramble to increase sales tax revenues, pro and con views of online sales tax are still being debated.

A story that ran on Forbes.com discusses e-tail sales tax and tax simplification:

“Two things are getting in the way of taxes on e-tailing. One is a lack of enthusiasm in Congress for the proposed enabling legislation that would allow states to go after the mail-order industry. Why be branded a tax hiker when the revenue won’t ameliorate the federal government’s budget problems? The other is that interstate sales taxing probably can’t work without a lot more uniformity from state to state in what gets taxed. State legislators would have to give up their pet causes–New York’s sales tax exemption on clothes costing less than $110, for example, or New Jersey’s sumptuary tax on furs.”

With New York State facing a $6.8 billion budget deficit in 2011, and California facing a shortfall of $14.4 billion, federal legislation for tax simplification may be the answer. Similar to the way states participate in the Streamlined Sales and Tax Use Agreement, states certainly would have to compromise and make special exceptions.

According to the Forbes article, there’s no way to compare apples to apples between states. Perhaps Amazon, eBay and other e-tailers should step up and propose a plan?