If you need more proof that “bi-partisan” means being gang raped by donkeys and elephants, look no further than a new proposal from the U.S. Congress. Ten senators from both sides of the aisle, led by Mike Enzi (R-WY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Lamar Alexander (R-TN), have introduced a bill (S.1832 “Marketplace Fairness Act”) to allow States to require businesses to collect sales tax on products imported into the State. Publishers Weekly reports, that while Amazon has staunchly opposed state-by-state tax initiatives, it would back a national policy. Paul Misener, Amazon Vice President of Global Public Policy said, “Amazon strongly supports enactment of the Enzi-Durbin-Alexander bill and will work with Congress, retailers, and the states to get this bi-partisan legislation passed.”
Additionally the International Council of Shopping Centers and the American Booksellers Association have both come out in support of this bill. The ICSC has “promoted sales tax fairness for over a decade, advocating that a ‘sale is a sale’ regardless of whether the purchase takes place on Main Street, at a shopping center, via mail-order or over the Internet”
The Marketplace Fairness Act is NOT fair and if enacted, there will be winners and losers. Among the losers are those customers who prefer to shop online where their purchases are mostly tax-free and those smaller companies who will find it difficult and/or expensive to comply. The winners will be the governments that will see an increase in tax revenue and the bigger online companies that will be able to fill the void left when the smaller companies either refuse to sale online or go out of business.