Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg proposed a budget Friday that would increase the city’s sales tax by half a percentage point as the centerpiece of $1 billion in new taxes to help the city avoid deeper spending cuts and minimize layoffs. ...

The Bloomberg administration has backed down on a plan to charge a 5-cent fee on plastic shopping bags and to add sales tax on all clothing purchases as part of a budget agreement reached with the City Council on Monday night, aides said.

A North Carolina case against Amazon.com raises questions about collecting sales taxes over the Internet. It’s surely only a matter of time before all states do so. ...