There were great expectation for the online sales tax that Minnesota recently started to collect. But reality is falling short due to a number of factors. MinnPost reports…

The state still expects to collect $11.14 billion from its sales tax by the end of the biennium, it’s second largest source of revenue behind individual income taxes. But because of declining sales tax collections overall, there is no “found money” for lawmakers to decide how to spend. Internet sales tax collections instead seem to be doing what they are intended to do: capture some of the sales that are migrating from in-state retailers and other taxable transactions to remote sites out of state.

Looking out to the next biennium, the one that begins July 1, 2019, the sales tax is projected to bring in $12.02 billion. That is only slightly less, $5 million, than was forecast last February.

I guess it’s like funding a $20 in your winter coat. It feels like a bonus, but you know it came from somewhere.