Consumption taxes in the internet world

The evolution of e-commerce raises serious issues concerning the current and future viability of consumption taxes. The dimensions of e-commerce (product, process, and agent) are shown to significantly impact the characteristics of taxes. The key issue addressed is whether the sales and use tax or the VAT is better positioned to evolve and handle the consequences of e-commerce. The conclusion deduced is that the United States with the sales and use tax is further ahead in addressing the problems but that the European Union with the VAT is likely to solve the problems first due to uniformity and cooperation.