GOP House to Move Internet Sales Tax Forward

Paul Lawrance
Activist Post

House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va) is expected to reveal a set of principles for Internet sales tax legislation sometime within in the next two weeks, sources who are closely watching the legislation told The Hill.

When faced with the opportunity to kill or move forward with the “Marketplace Fairness Act” that the Senate passed in a 69-27 vote in May, Goodlatte chose the latter.

Under Current law, states can only collect sales taxes from retailers that have a physical presence in their state. The legislation being moved forward in the House would allow out-of-state retailers making over $1 million in annual out-of-state sales to be taxed.

A poll conducted from July 10-14, 2013, by the National Taxpayers Union and R Street Institute showed that 57% of likely voters were oppose to such a tax.

A Gallup poll in June also found broad disapproval for online sales tax collection, reporting that not a single major subgroup approved of the legislation that was passed in the Senate.

Pete Sepp of NTU told reporters last week that, “I think these poll results show that the public has seen the MFA (Marketplace Fairness Act), listened to its best arguments, and aren’t buying any of them,” reports The Hill.

“I think they provide a very powerful indication of where the electorate is,” said Sepp.

Among those who have fought the bill while it was present in the Senate are eBay Inc. and anti-tax activist Grover Norquist. Both stated that the legislation would cause taxpayers to cough up more tax money and penalize small online businesses.

eBay CEO John Donahoe wrote to sellers using the consumer-to-consumer corporation in an email stating:

Are you prepared to collect sales taxes in the more than 9,600 tax jurisdictions across the US? Are you prepared for the potential to be audited by out-of-state tax collectors? These burdens would be the result of proposed legislation,”[..]“We are fighting on your behalf to prevent this from happening.

The bill is moving forward despite potential opposition from inside the GOP.

Paul Lawrance writes for Eyes Open Report where this first appeared.