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Last last month, state Sen. Wayne Harper canceled a hearing for a proposal to require merchants to report information to help the state collect online sales taxes amidst what he called "gross misinformation" from the bill's opponents.

On Friday, Harper, R-Taylorsville, brought a reworked bill, SB83, before the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee — another attempt to create a mechanism for enforcement of online sales taxes. His legislation includes a notification process that would inform citizens who were found to be in noncompliance of payment and would enforce penalties on sellers who failed to report the proper information.

The committee voted 6-0 to advance SB83 to the full Senate for consideration.

Merchants who sell products online can only be required to collect sales taxes if they have a physical presence in the state. State law, however, does require Utahns to report and pay this tax on their annual state-income tax returns. Less than 2 percent do so and there doesn't currently exist a way to enforce the law.

Proponents of online sales tax collection argue the state is losing an estimated $220 million in annual revenue, while opponents say these kinds of bills are unconstitutional.

Harper said he made changes to SB83 to parallel the structure of a Colorado online sales tax law that was upheld in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper and chairman of the committee, questioned the process the bill would create. He said a survey of people in his district indicated that 90 percent would prefer their online sales taxes to be collected at the time of purchases.

Harper acknowledged the desire for a simple method of collection but said, "This is what the 10th Circuit Court said is the legal mechanism to pursue at the present time."

He called it good policy.

"It may be a little bit burdensome, but I would encourage support of the bill."