Tinnes gets calls from desperate out-of-state retailers.

Forty-five states and the District of Columbia have laws that require residents to pay sales taxes on goods purchased from either in-state or out-of-state retailers.

All three bills are virtually identical and would allow states to require online and other out-of-state retailers to collect sales and use tax.

So North Carolina has been auditing large out-of-state retailers, most notably Amazon.

When consumers order books, compact disks or flowers from an out-of-state retailer, they are technically liable to pay sales taxes.

Laws in 45 states and the District of Columbia require residents to pay sales tax on merchandise purchased from either in-state or out-of-state retailers.

In 1987, North Dakota amended its sales and use tax to cover out-of-state retailers that regularly solicit business from state residents.

Twelve states at most currently permit transactions between consumers and out-of-state retailers.

As of February 2012 state tax authorities are attempting to collect sales tax from out-of-state online retailers, such as Amazon.com.

Senate Bill 597 would require out-of-state online retailers with a distribution centers in Virginia to collect state sales tax.