SACRAMENTO — The days of most tax-free Internet shopping in California are over.

After years of controversy, the world's largest online retailer, Amazon.com Inc., was set to begin collecting state and local sales taxes on California purchases at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Depending on where you live, sales taxes in the state range from 7.25% to 9.75%.

Amazon is no fan of collecting state sales taxes, and it's ready to play hardball once again in its attempt to avoid the levy. An e-mail sent from the company to all of its Illinois affiliates this morning warns that, should Illinois Governor Pat Quinn sign a just-passed tax bill, Amazon is cutting off every affiliate in Illinois.

WASHINGTON -- Shoppers can often save big buying online instead of at the local mall. But a chunk of the savings comes at the expense of state and local governments, in the form of sales taxes that are not paid on many Web purchases.

The losses add up for cash-starved state and local governments across the country.