Marketplace Fairness Act Is Not Fair To The Marketplace

A compelling new op-ed was published by The Hill today. It was written by Drex Davis, co-founder of eMainStreet Alliance, and producer of the often referenced Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA) short video series. Davis has exposed an alarming loophole in the legislation that would bury small remote sellers and allow big retail to dance on their graves.

“Consider this - the bill is written so that a Minnesota-based Big Box store located near the Wisconsin border can escape a tax audit from Wisconsin even though that store sells tens of millions in goods to Wisconsin residents. Yet, the MFA would expose a small Minnesota business to the threat of a tax audit from Wisconsin for making a single sale over the Internet to a Wisconsin resident."

Proponents of the bill claim they are seeking a level playing field, but don't want to live by the same laws they are proposing. Drex Davis goes on to say...

"In fact, small online retailers would face the threat of up to 46 sales tax audits per year, while the Big Box store would face the threat of only one. This is the exact opposite of "fairness".."

The Marketplace Fairness Act passed with 69 votes in the Senate, but it had to maneuver its way around legislative vetting by dodging committee scrutiny. Once the bill reached the House, John Boehner (to his credit) sent it to the Judiciary Committee where the veil has been lifted and the harm to American small business can be clearly seen. This has led to Chairman Bob Goodlatte releasing 7 Basic Principles to Remote Sales Tax. Chaiman Goodlatte's guidelines are a much more responsible approach to remote seller tax collection obligations.

Contrary to what Big Retail lobbyist's claim, the MFA doesn't close tax loopholes, it writes regulatory loopholes into law.  Please read, comment and share the points made here in today's published op-ed and encourage your representatives to stand against the Marketplace Fairness Act because it is not fair to the marketplace.