ATLANTA — With changes in the tax law taking effect this month, Georgia intends to begin treating some online retailers the same way it treats those with stores here: by collecting sales tax.

Officials say that will mean that Georgians who avoid paying sales tax by buying online may now find that harder to do.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (http://bit.ly/QPCdz3) that the amount of money people spend online continues to grow steadily.

A 2009 study projected that Georgia would lose as much as $455.5 million in uncollected sales tax from online purchases in 2012.

Officials predict that collecting the tax from some web sellers that were not previously required to charge sales tax will add an estimated $18 million a year to the state's coffers.