Online shoppers reminded to report use tax this Cyber Monday

(Harrisburg) -- Pennsylvanians who observe “Cyber Monday” by taking to the Internet for some holiday shopping may need to save their receipts.

Consumers are responsible for reporting online purchases to the state when those purchases don'’t include sales tax.

Department of Revenue Spokeswoman Elizabeth Brassell says the state is expecting this year’s self-reported use tax collection to increase over last year’s, even though more remote or internet sellers have become licensed to collect sales tax. "Use tax is never going to go away, there will always be companies that exist that don’t have physical presence or nexus in Pennsylvania but obviously when the larger e-commerce retailers become licensed to collect sales tax, it reduces the burden on individuals to report and pay use tax."

This past January, the state simplified the use tax reporting process for taxpayers, adding a line to the state personal income tax return.

The state collected about $3.8 million in self-reported sales taxes from tax year 2011, which includes collections through 2012.

Brassell says her agency expects to collect as much as $7 million in self-reported use tax at the end of the current fiscal year.