ICSC is a trade organization for malls and retail stores, who hate the fact that customers pay sales tax at their stores but not online. They wanna change that. Here’s what they’re telling their members.
You might want to contact YOUR congressman and suggest the exact opposite:
From: Betsy Laird, ICSC Senior Vice President
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 4:19 PM
Subject: ICSC Alert: Contact Congress About Supporting the Marketplace Equity Act
Dear ICSC Member,
On October 13, 2011 Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) and Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-12) introduced H.R. 3179, titled the Marketplace Equity Act, in the U.S. House of Representatives. This bill will level the playing field for brick-and-mortar retail tenants and enable states to collect sales taxes from remote retailers such as Internet-only sellers.
Reps. Womack and Speier were joined by Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), John Duncan (R-TN), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Brad Miller (D-NC), Ted Poe (R-TX), Dennis Ross (R-FL) and Peter Welch (D-VT). ICSC expects this list to grow over the coming weeks.
Click here to send an email to your Congressman about H.R. 3179. (If your Representative is already a cosponsor, you will be able to thank him or her for supporting the bill. If your Representative is not yet a cosponsor, you will have the ability to ask him or her to sign onto the bill.)
ICSC has promoted sales tax fairness for more than a decade, advocating a level playing field regardless of whether the purchase takes place on Main Street, at shopping centers, via mail-order or over the Internet.
While the Internet marketplace has rapidly expanded, sales tax collection for e-commerce sales lags behind. Online-only sellers continue to avoid collecting sales taxes and pass the tax responsibility onto unknowing consumers.
This bipartisan legislation addresses the competitive pricing advantage that Internet and remote sellers have over our brick-and-mortar retail tenants and fixes a sales tax system that is currently favoring online-only retailers over their local counterparts.
This bill also provides an alternative to potential new and increased taxes that states legislators are considering to close gaps in state budgets.
Thank you for reaching out to your Congressman about this important measure.
Sincerely,
Betsy Laird
Senior Vice President
ICSC Global Public Policy
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About the Author
Perry Marshall has launched two revolutions in sales and marketing. In Pay-Per-Click advertising, he pioneered best practices and wrote the world's best selling book on Google advertising. And he's driven the 80/20 Principle deeper than any other author, creating a new movement in business.
He is referenced across the Internet and by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, INC and Forbes Magazine.
7 Comments on “Brick & Mortar Retailers Wanna Stick YOU With Sales Tax”
I agree with you, Perry. Any time Big Brother tries to get an “inch” from your wallet – they’re really thinking about “taking a mile” from you, in the future!
Sounds like the bill just gives power back to the states but doesn’t make the tax effective unless our local state congress votes to levy the sales tax. I applaud our federal Congress for actually giving up power. That doesn’t happen very often.
I like the title, it’s a laugh!
Seriously, I’m not surprised at this. I’ve expected something like it for quite some time now. Still, I’m distressed at the possibility that it might become law.
Thank you Perry, for this warning!
This concerns me a lot, Perry. As an active online marketer, I am very thankful I found this on your valuable website!
Perry,
Thanks for the warning on this!
This reminds me of the recent, clumsy attempt by political-dummies in some states, to tax affiliates by attacking large affiliate programs.
The biggest problem I see with attempts to tax Internet transactions, is the fact that many will easily slip through – because there are so many natural “loopholes” in a system that connects people anonymously (if they wish) across vast distances. In such a system, any bureaucratic taxation attempts are doomed to fail!
Thanks again for this important bulletin.
Sales tax is not the difference between online and brick/mortar businesses. It’s marketing. You can get away with no marketing if you’re the only butcher in town.
I actually support some type of sales tax collection for internet purchases. What I do not support is making it difficult. Our big fear is having to deal with every single tax jurisdiction. There should be a central place to send all of our tax and it should be distributed from there.
Sales tax is not the difference between online and brick/mortar businesses. It’s marketing. You can get away with no marketing if you’re the only butcher in town.
It’s also convenience and availability.
When taking phone orders, people often ask how much the tax is because they don’t even realize that companies across state lines don’t collect sales tax. They order because they can’t scratch their itch locally.
Another comment we hear is how someone spent a day driving around to find a product and failed. They hit google and searched and bam…there it was and they could have saved a day. Some are even angry about that wasted day when they call us and are done in minutes.
Brick and mortar failures and downsizing have nothing to do with sales tax. Its a failure to evolve to a changing world.