The USE tax isn't new here in California. It has been around for decades. Most people's out-of-state purchases have been so low, so seldom, or so trivial that it hasn't been worth publicizing or enforcing. Example... suppose you travel out of country and bring back a scarf or artbook from some museum somewhere. 9 months later when doing your taxes, you probably aren't going to remember buying that book, much less what you paid for it in whatever currency. Many states even have an allowance of a few hundred dollars to cover this incidental buying. it isn't worth their time to police the small stuff. Example 2... suppose you travel out of country and bring back a car, a horse, a multi-thousand dollar musical instrument (whatever, big ticket items or many purchases). It doesn't matter whether you could have purchased that race horse here or not. What matters is a several thousand dollar purchase and the government will want its use tax. I don't buy online to escape paying taxes. Shipping charges are often double what the tax would have been. Carolly