Electronic Retailer - October 2012 - 10

INDUSTRY REPORTS

Recent Developments on Capitol Hill Heighten Online Sales Tax Debate
WASHINGTON, D.C. – It was a wild summer in Washington, D.C., on the issue of online sales tax. Those of you who have been following the news know that state tax collectors and their big box retailer allies have poured $10 million dollars into a campaign to force you to collect sales tax on purchases in states where you do not have physical presence. ERA, along with its association allies, has successfully thwarted this intense month-long push by proponents. Highlights of the summer battle include: Right after the 4th of July holiday, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) attempted to amend the Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act to include the “Main Street Fairness Act.” This act is the legislative vehicle in the Senate that would require you to collect and remit online sales tax. ERA engaged its outside lobbying muscle in opposition to this attempt, coordinated efforts of our partners in opposition – the DMA, Netchoice and the American Mail Catalogers Association (AMCA) – and actively engaged in countering the opposition’s high-profile PR efforts pushing for passage. Together, we successfully repelled this attempt. On July 24, the state tax collectors and their allies convinced the House Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing on HR 3179, the Marketplace Equity Act. There was an active attempt to

CHINESE MANUFACTURING
LET SF GLOBAL SOURCING UNLOCK THE PUZZLE TO THE BEST PRICING WITHOUT COMPROMISING QUALITY.
ALLOW US TO HELP YOU:
SAVE MONEY! MEET ALL U.S. RETAIL STANDARDS. WE SPECIALIZE IN HEALTH AND BEAUTY, FITNESS, AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.

YOUR EXPERTS FOR

Develop | Source | Manufacture | Package | Delight

silence remote retailers’ voices for this hearing through stacking the deck with witnesses in favor. Again, working with our partners, we were able to obtain a witness slot to ensure the voices of remote retailers were not frozen out of the debate. Three days prior to this hearing, word arrived from the Committee staff that they wanted to hear from businesses that would be affected. With little time, our group generated more than 100 letters in opposition as a result of this request. ERA, along with the DMA, AMCA and Netchoice, also launched a coalition, TruST – True Simplification of Taxation, which can be found at truesimplification.org, where interested companies can sign up for updates, find us on Twitter and Facebook, and learn more about the issue. Over in the Senate, the issue erupted as well. On August 1, the Senate Commerce Committee called a hearing of the Main Street Fairness Act. ERA again filed written comments, engaged our lobbying resources and responded actively to press inquiries. However, again the panel was stacked 6-1 in favor of the opposition in an attempt to stifle opposing views. It backfired. Ranking member Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) was not happy with the lopsided panel and came out strongly in favor of our side. Its lopsided nature also awoke anti-tax advocacy groups in opposition. Most importantly, the star panelist for the big box retailers got flipped. The story is that he was a small business (60 employees) bookseller from Texas who testified how easy collection was for him. During the hearing it came out that he was charging Texas sales tax for sales in Virginia. Proponents were not amused. The next day, in a desperate attempt to salvage this fiasco, Sens. Enzi and Rockerfeller filed the Main Street Fairness Act as an amendment to the Senate Finance Committee’s markup of tax extenders. Again ERA, its lobbying team and association allies, sprung into action in opposition. And, again, our efforts proved successful. This issue is far from over. The opposition is heavily funded and intensively motivated. We expect their efforts to continue with a strong push in the lame duck session after the election. – Bill McClellan, ERA’s Vice President of Government Affairs

601786_SF.indd 1

electronicRETAILER | October 2012

16/08/12 5:20 PM

Electronic Retailer - October 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Electronic Retailer - October 2012