Sales tax holidays complicate SSTP objectives. (Sales And Use Tax).

Distance sellers, including those that use the Internet to sell their wares, have generally been opposed to state tax holidays. In fact, state tax holidays, despite their popularity, pose significant complexity on vendors of all types because of tax base issues, caps, and other tax issues. The Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP) contemplates barring state tax holidays that take place after December 31, 2005.

Tax collectors view state tax holidays as a threat because they began in 1997 in only one state and are now in force in nine states. Implicit behind the SSTP proposal is a fear that state tax holidays are likely to proliferate.

The state tax holidays typically fall in August, the traditional back-to-school …