Aside from Ted Cruz ownage of Mitch McConnell earlier today, the new GOP senate has performed much like the Democrat senate of the previous eight years. Now Republicans in the Senate are pushing for an in-state Internet sales tax.
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Republicans in the Senate are leading efforts to pass legislation that would allow the states to impose a sales tax on online transactions.
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) has proposed the Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA), which would allow states to “collect and remit sales and use taxes with respect to remote sales.” The bill includes an exemption for companies whose gross remote sales are less than $1 million per year.
The legislation enjoys support particularly among legislators in rural states who believe that online retailers are encroaching on sales made out of traditional storefronts.
CNBC reported Friday that the market value of shares of online retailer Amazon has now surpassed those of Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) claims that states could collect an additional $25 billion in sales taxes annually if the legislation is passed, and argues that imposing the tax would help to promote business at traditional stores, create jobs, and provide tax revenue.“The billions of dollars in lost sales tax is revenue badly needed by cash-strapped state and local governments to pay the salaries of essential workers such as police officers, firefighters, ambulance crews, and schoolteachers,” the NRF states.