Internet tax bill advances in Senate
April 26, 2013
Purchases made over the Internet may soon be taxed after the U.S. Senate closed debate on the issue Friday and prepared to vote on the issue upon return from a week-long vacation. (San Jose Mercury News)
The bill’s easy passage in the Upper House is anticipated, but some House members have already suggested they won’t support it because they consider it a new tax. President Obama said he supports the measure.
Called the Marketplace Fairness Act, the bill would allow states to collect taxes from out-of-state buyers of online products. Proponents say the measure puts Internet sales on the same competitive level as so-called brick-and-mortar stores. Sales taxes would then be sent to the state where shippers reside.
“The special treatment of big online businesses at the expense of retailers on Main Street will soon be a thing of the past,” said Bill Hughes of the Retail Industry Leaders Association.
Opponent Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the plan “is coercive. It requires a number of states to collect the taxes of other states thousands of miles away against their will.” He also opined the bill gives an unfair advantage to foreign retailers.
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