PORTLAND — Buying things from Amazon is about to cost you a little bit more, and state leaders say that’s a good thing.

Starting on April 1, less than two weeks from now, the world’s largest on-line retailer will start collecting Maine’s 5.5 percent sales tax.

What that means for you is pretty clear, everything you buy that’s subject to the sales tax, which is almost everything for sale on Amazon, will cost you 5.5 percent more than it does right now.

That’s assuming you don’t declare your on-line purchases on your tax returns, which the state says many do not.

Maine’s retailers say this change is only right, traditional stores in Maine have said for years that they believe it’s unfair for them to have to collect the tax, while on-line retailers, like Amazon, don’t.

Maine is one of four states for which Amazon will begin collecting tax in April, and at that point, Amazon will be collecting sales taxes in every state except those, like New Hampshire, that do not have a state sales tax.

FILE – In this June 30, 2011, file photo, a United Parcel Service driver delivers packages from Amazon.com in Palo Alto, Calif. 

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