The battle to have the new Internet sales tax law is not going to stop anytime soon. In fact, it’s just about to begin as online merchants and specialists belonging to a search engine optimization company start to fight back by pulling their affiliates in the states where they have local partnerships with to avoid paying for additional sales taxes. Just recently, Amazon and eBay aired their sides to the Congressional committee, with different opinions on the matter.
Amazon.com, for example, supports the Marketplace Fairness Act which requires online and catalog retailers earning more than $500,000 in annual sales to collect taxes from customers from those states. Even without a physical presence, retailers can still collect taxes on those states, a decision which stemmed from a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Internet Retailer’s no.1 retailer in its Top 500 Guide, Amazon.com, said that the “Congress should not exempt too many sellers from collection, for these sellers will obtain a lasting unlevel playing field versus Main Street and other retailers,” according to their Vice President Paul Misener, who presented his case to the Congressional Committee.
eBay.com, on the other hand, argued that while there may be exemptions , paying taxes would still eat into their profits. Tod Cohen, eBay’s Vice President and deputy general counsel of government relations asked: “Do those who want a level playing field demand that all small business retailers get the same tax credits, the same sales tax exclusions and the same shipping rates?”
According to the National Retail Federation, the Congressional Committee should “enact sales tax collection reform that will level the playing field between brick and mortar and remote sellers by granting states the authority to collect sales taxes from all sellers regardless of their distribution method.”
The states that have been gravely affected are California, Hawaii, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. Should brick-and-mortar retail stores follow suit and air their side as well and what can search engine optimization companies have to say about this?
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