PETOSKEY, MI --

Business owners in Petoskey just got done telling the state they need some help.

"They look at our inventory, and take time with our sales people, and then purchase online, and that leads to a real problem for the state and our business," explains owner of McLean and Eakin Booksellers, Matt Norcross.

Norcross says this holiday season, more and more people are using his store as a showroom for online business.  People are dodging the six percent sales tax he must collect by taking a look at the item in his store, but making their purchase online.

“We believe any larger online retailer could certainly carry this burden," says Norcross.

Small business owners, like Norcross, want Michigan lawmakers to pass the “Mainstreet Fairness Act,” which would force online retailers to pay the same sales tax local businesses do.

"When you deal with a couple thousand dollars, it's $60 per thousand, and it really adds up, especially when you're looking at a bigger ticket purchase, and trying to match the prices," says owner of Arlington Jewelers Chris Struble.

And if online retailers are told to put a tax on what they sell, it could mean a huge economical impact on the state of Michigan.  A study shows that $300-million would be collected from online sales with the sales tax.

Ben walker, a local shopper, believes online companies paying sales tax seems fair.  The "Michigan Use Tax" is supposed to make people pay sales tax on taxable online purchases, but Walker says it isn't enough to close the loophole of online retail.

“They're just not going to do it, and the state's never going to see that money," says Walker.

“It hurts small business, and ultimately, it's going to impact the state, and it's going to be just a domino effect on what it can do to small businesses," says Norcross.

“We have to be competitive to sell, so to level the playing field is going to make it better, I think, for everybody," says Struble.

New York and Illinois are two states that by law make out-of-state online retailers pay sales tax.

Several other states are working to put the same legislation in place.