Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would allow states to collect sales tax from online purchases should it be enacted into law. The Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 now faces the House of Representatives and President Obama, whose White House reportedly supports the bill.

The legislation passed the Democrat-controlled Senate by a considerable 69-27 margin, though passing the Republican-controlled House may be a different story. Should it pass though, lawmakers expect Obama to scribble his signature signing it into law.

The idea behind the bill is to level the playing field between online companies and those with only a brick-and-mortar presence. But that doesn’t mean that all online companies are against the act and all brick-and-mortars are for it. Online marketplace giant and producer of the Kindle tablet series Amazon actually supports the act, according to The Verge. In fact, Amazon used to close down certain warehouses in order to avoid paying a state sales tax. But now that Amazon sprouts warehouses all over the place to provide speedy service, its embracing the bill.

The proposed law asserts that states have the authority to collect sales from the online vendor regardless if the vendor has a physical presence in that state. Theoretically a vendor could be paying sales tax to all 50 states, a sentiment not lost on the likes of Etsy and eBay.

Etsy and eBay, like Amazon, make a good chunk of their change in the online marketplace realm. Their argument is that the measure is much too costly and inconvenient for small retailers, suggesting that the bill exclude retailers selling less than $1 million worth of goods per year.

Should the bill pass, however, not every state will be imposing the new tax. The Verge notes,

“the bill’s authors adopted the standards set by the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA), a federal program designed to simplify online or mail-order commerce tax collection. To start collecting online taxes through the bill, states will either need to either have SSUTA membership — at this moment, there are 22 full members and two associate members — or pass legislation that creates a central authority for tax collection, provides free tax software to online sellers, and limits the liability businesses would face if they make mistakes based on bad information from a software provider or state official.

One of the major issues from a purely constitutional standpoint is that the bill affords states the right to level taxes beyond state borders, essentially undercutting a state’s own authority and undermining “healthy” competition between states. This implies a compromise between constitutionality and capitalism.

Keep checking back for the latest update on the bill’s progress. In the meantime, let’s hear from everyone out there in audience-land. Do you think states should have the right to impose taxes on online sales? Will this prove successful in leveling the playing field between online retailers and brick-and-mortar presences? Is this a bill that you personally would support? Leave us all of your thoughts in the comments section below.