How do they plan to collect this tax? Virtually no-one pays the "use tax" for online purchases of physical goods from out of state unless the merchant is forced to collect sales tax. My understanding is that states can only compel companies to collect taxes up front when they have a physical presence in the state of the consumer. Amazon has warehouses everywhere, but I wouldn't expect Netflix, Hulu, etc. to have a physical presence outside of their home states (well, Netflix might have DVD distribution centers, but that's not something you would expect from streaming companies in the general case). If this is going to be self-reported like the current use tax, it won't accomplish very much unless they plan to step up enforcement of use-tax non-payment.

edit: Looking at the notice published by the state, it appears they're just going to lump streaming services in with the general use tax.

> Starting August 1, 2016, the sales and use tax specifically extends to items delivered to a customer electronically or digitally or by streaming

Does anyone know if Netflix has a physical presence in Pennsylvania and will actually be collecting sales tax when billing?