California voters split on online tax

California voters are split over a new law that would force online retailers such as Amazon to collect sales taxes, according to a recent poll.

The poll found 46 percent of voters favor the tax and 49 percent oppose it. 

Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed the bill last month, but opponents are collecting signatures to put a measure on the ballot to overturn it.

“At this point, Californians are evenly divided on whether online purchases should be taxed. This could be one of the most expensive campaigns in California history, and neither side starts with a clear advantage,” Dan Schnur, director of the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll, said in a statement.

Amazon refuses to collect the tax and is leading the campaign to overturn it. Conventional retailers argue that failing to tax online purchases gives an unfair advantage to online retailers and exacerbates California's budget woes.  

The poll found young and nonwhite voters are more likely to oppose the tax. Opposition was also correlated with online shopping habits: 61 percent of those polled who do most of their shopping online oppose the tax.

The poll was conducted July 6 to 17 and has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

---