How Online Shopping is Changing Our Lives

As of Nov. 2013, Massachusetts shoppers will notice an unfamiliar addition to their Amazon.com receipts — tax — the state's 6.25 percent sales tax, to be exact. Why the shift? Massachusetts has been losing revenue from residents who buy products tax-free online —  an estimated $387 million in 2011 alone. That's a lot of books. And clothes. And gadgets.