Marketplace Fairness Act Blog Posts

What’s New with Marketplace Fairness in 2017?

June 12, 2017

When sales tax laws first came into existence in the early to mid-part of the 20th century, the vast majority of sales were made from brick-and-mortar stores to local customers. However, with the rise of the internet and the increasing reach of ecommerce into every corner of the market, a number of new challenges have become apparent. States that depended on sales tax revenue to fund a wide variety of services and programs have suddenly found that cash flow decreasing rapidly. There has been movement on several fronts over the past decade or so to try and expand the authority… Read More

The 2016 Push to Address Uncollected Online Sales Tax

January 21, 2016

Representing as much as a third of annual budget, one of the most important sources of revenue for State and Local government is sales and use tax. Different in every state (and sometimes in municipalities), they represent an important resource for most State and Local governments. In recent years, however, the tax base in most states has started to erode due to online sales. As of September 2015, ecommerce sales represented 7.4% of total US retail sales. That’s a year over year growth of 16.68% and it only continues to grow. The current laws require tax on Internet sales in… Read More

How the Remote Transactions Parity Act Would Affect Ecommerce Retailers

June 26, 2015

This June, a new bill has been introduced to Congress called the Remote Transaction Parity Act (RTPA) by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Representative out of Utah. If passed, this bill, H.R. 2775, will make it easier for states, cities and districts to collect sales and use tax on remote purchases. Chaffetz claims that this bill will “promote states’ rights,” since it would take effect in every state. Chaffetz has gotten strong support from the National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade association for this bill, which has been brought to the table with bipartisan support. It is similar to… Read More

A New Internet Sales Tax Alternative – the Online Sales Simplification Act

January 22, 2015

After years of discussions, back-and-forth, pros and cons, supporters and naysayers, it looks like the Marketplace Fairness Act might be dead. But the government hasn’t given up on the idea of taxing internet sales across state lines. In fact, so many businesses are in favor of Marketplace Fairness that in some shape or form, online sales tax is still very likely to happen. And the latest iteration of that is a discussion draft called the Online Sales Simplification Act. If you’re familiar with the Marketplace Fairness Act, then the name behind this bill will be familiar. It’s spearheaded by House… Read More

Will Consumer Private Reporting Replace the Marketplace Fairness Act?

June 30, 2014

Recently, we’ve been discussing the problems of nexus and sales tax laws. We looked at the Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA), which has been presented to Congress as a viable option to level the sales tax playing field for both bricks & mortar and online businesses. It’s also a way to provide states the tools they need to properly collect these taxes. But is the MFA the best solution to these problems? If not, what alternative exists? Problems with the MFA The MFA seeks to simplify complex issues of sales and use tax reporting by compelling remote retailers to collect tax… Read More