Mall Landlords Engage in a Taxing Battle

U.S. shopping center owners, smarting from high vacancies partly due to the rise in internet shopping, are throwing their weight behind federal bills aimed at requiring online retailers to collect sales tax. At the same time, some of the biggest mall owners also are gaining traction in their efforts in individual states to squeeze sales tax out of the world's largest online retailer — Amazon.com. Seven states have reached pacts with Amazon to collect sales tax, with Nevada and Texas joining the list last week. Five more states are in talks on similar deals.