WASHINGTON DC — The White House announced yesterday the President’s endorsement for the Marketplace Fairness Act which would hike taxes for purchases made over the internet. The White House stated the additional tax would “level the playing field for local retailers.”
It is the position of the White House and some members of Congress that because some customers purchase over the internet the state looses the tax that would have been collected and therefore reduces the available revenue to the state for services provided to the citizens of the state. Opponents, however, state that the collection of tax at the point of sale is a requirement upon the business of the state upon which they reside and they receive benefit and protection by the state for those taxes.
To require business to collect and pay taxes to states to which they have no legal responsibility and no voice over the regulations of the state would amount to taxation without representation. Harry Reid, in the Senate, is looking to use a Senate rule to bypass committee debate and bring it straight to the floor as early as next week.
The bill would provide for an audit team from each state representing states and local tax entities and could mean as many as 27 or more different tax auditors of a web-based business. This is in direct response to the 1992 decision in Quill v North Dakota that decided that forcing business to collect and remit taxes to jurisdictions where they have no physical presence was too big a burden.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/white-house-endorses-internet-sales-tax_718208.html
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424127887324493704578432961601644942-lMyQjAxMTAzMDIwMTEyNDEyWj.html
