Amazon charges California sales tax

Amazon started charging California residents their local sales tax today. Evidently a lot of people were dismayed by the change: news reports breathlessly claimed that people had scrambled to make large purchases on Amazon before 15 September so as to avoid the taxes.

These people seem to have forgotten the ruckus of almost a decade ago, when state officials warned us that we were responsible for California sales tax on our online purchases even then. State tax forms include a box to report the total amount, and Amazon, at least, allows its users to tot up their purchases from the previous calendar year.

I'd be curious to know how many others were like me and actually honored that long-forgotten warning by paying the additional sales taxes on their returns. How honest and law-abiding are we, really?