Well it’s a cynically named tax that is being pushed through Congress by greedy big box and online retailers that want to make it more difficult for smaller internet competitors by forcing all of those that have more than $1,000,000 in total sales (no not profits… total sales) to charge sales tax for all orders. This means that small to medium sized businesses will have to keep track of 1000’s of different tax rates, a task that is much more difficult for a small company operating on slim profit margins than a multinational corporation with distribution centers located all around the country.
Not only that, but it is a regressive tax that increases cost for consumers who purchase online, and is unjustifiable in light of the fact that it will force companies to pay sales taxes to states they have no physical presence in. This is a patent violation of the commerce clause and amounts to a duty tax designed to limit commerce between states. (See Quill Corp. v. North Dakota) Just consider for a moment how exceedingly regressive this tax is… It wants to make things more expensive for online retailers so people will be forced to buy products in state. Consider that while consumers may save a few dollars in state sales tax by purchasing online they usually pay considerably more than that for shipping in most cases adding an unwarranted tax on top is anything but fair.
Rather than list a bunch of sites deriding the legislation I’m going to reference a couple of sites in support of it and let you see if their arguments add up…
Here is a list of the some of the bill’s supporters on one site that’s seriously pushing the bandwagon, a short analysis will reveal that all of those listed are local merchants, labor and big box retailer associations. Also notably missing is Amazon, Walmart and other 800 lb Retailers looking to squeeze their online competitors. Here’s another article supporting the tax. Note how all of it centers around the concept of letting Georgia get their share of internet revenue from outside purchases.
If you want to contact your senator to let them know how you feel about it, click here ContactingTheCongress. I suggest that you do.