Opinion

Senate to vote on internet sales tax bill this week

If you often choose to buy from an internet retailer instead of your local shop to avoid paying sales tax, you may soon need to re-think your shopping habits.

As early as Monday, the U.S. Senate may take up the Marketplace Fairness Act. The bill would grant all states the power to collect sales taxes from out-of-state purchases.

Nine states currently require online retailer Amazon.com to record and pay sales taxes to them. This new legislation, proposed by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) would extend that responsibility to all online retailers and all 50 states.

The law would certainly put a burden on many internet shops as each state has county-by-county and city-by-city variances in sales tax rates. Keeping up with so many will be difficult without expensive software or costly manual updates.

The bill hopes to even the playing field between internet an brick-and-mortar stores. As shoppers have learned that internet purchases do not incur sales tax, they often shop locally and purchase across state lines.

Current laws would require purchasers to pay sales taxes on these purchases by reporting the purchases on the annual taxes. Almost no one does.

As states have seen their tax revenues shrink during the lingering economic stagnation, they are eager to get their hands on the additional revenue.

Large brick-and-mortar retailers like Wal-Mart have been major supporters for the legislation and will likely lobby hard for its passage.

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Rich Mitchell

Rich Mitchell is the editor-in-chief of Conservative Daily News and the president of Bald Eagle Media, LLC. His posts may contain opinions that are his own and are not necessarily shared by Bald Eagle Media, CDN, staff or .. much of anyone else. Find him on twitter, facebook and

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2 Comments

  1. Rich, My internet “Rip-off Cord” has been pulled a couple of times making me a ‘none on line shopper’so I don’t have a yea or nay on this issue…but…this is NOT the only interest ‘our’ governmemt is showing in our internet.

    FYI…This past week while we were focused & immersed in the horror in Boston & West, Tx, our REPUBLICAN led Congress passed a bill that….allows the Federal Gov’t to access, without a warrant, ALL connections to include sites visited as well a email….Google, et al will be held faultless & protected from any lawsuits resulting in our loss of privacy…..I don’t have the exact count, but about 237 yeas, 18 abstintions, ?nays, ? not present…..

  2. CORPORATE FASCISM: The Destruction of America’s Middle Class

    A new kind of fascism has taken over America: the merger of corporations and government whereby corporate power dominates. With the emergence of ever-larger multinational corporations — due to consolidation facilitated by the Federal Reserve’s endless FIAT money — the corporatocracy has been in a position to literally purchase the U.S. Congress.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTbvoiTJKIs&feature=related

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