California targets out-of-state purchases for taxes

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

As part of California's efforts to shore up its budget, roughly 184,000 business owners are getting letters from the state Board of Equalization, requiring them to register to pay a tax they might have overlooked.

The letters deal with the use tax - a levy that businesses and consumers are supposed to pay when they purchase goods from out-of-state vendors who are not obligated to collect sales taxes because they have no offices or employees in California.

Great moments in high tax California.