RETAILING
U.S. Senate Passes Online-Sales-Tax Bill
Online sales taxes could be the law of the land.
In a rare show of bipartisan action, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on May 6 to pass a bill that would give states the option to levy a sales tax on online purchases from out-of-state e-commerce retailers.
In many states, shoppers are required to pay unpaid sales taxes when they file state tax returns. But governors complain that few people opt to do so.
The Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013, which was amended, was passed by a 69–27 vote. The bill’s next stop is the House of Representative’s Judiciary Committee.
There is no date scheduled for the bill to be considered by the committee, but Jason Brewer of the Retail Industry Leaders Association in Arlington, Va., forecast the bill will be discussed soon.
Sen. Mike Enzi (R–Wyo.) sponsored the Marketplace Fairness Act with Sens. Lamar Alexander (R–Tenn.), Dick Durbin (D–Ill.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D–N.D.).
Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, California’s two Democratic senators, voted for the bill.
High-profile retail trade groups RILA and National Retail Federation applauded the bill’s passage.
“The Senate’s overwhelmingly bipartisan passage of this legislation foreshadows the end of the special treatment of big online businesses at the expense of retailers on Main Street,” said Bill Hughes, RILA’s senior vice president for government affairs. “After such a resounding vote in the Senate, we look forward to a constructive debate in the House to level the playing field for all retailers this year.”
If the Marketplace Fairness Bill becomes law, it will mean more administrative work for e-commerce boutiques such as Lulus.com. Because sales-tax rates are not the same around the country, the Chico, Calif.–based women’s contemporary shop would be required to figure out which funds it must send to different tax boards across the nation, said Colleen Winter, Lulus.com co-founder.
However, Winter doesn’t anticipate Marketplace Fairness will take a bite out of Lulus.com’s sales. “We feel like the advantage is that we have exclusive items,” she said. “If [consumers] walked to a bricks-and-mortar boutique, they wouldn’t find the same stuff.”
