eBay is fighting the good fight against H.R. 5660 - the Main Street Fairness Act - otherwise known as the Tax The Internet Fiasco. Here is a great blog post that details the bill - if you sell online it is a must read!
Please sign the petition eBay has set up - this would be a death blow to thousands of small ecommerce businesses all of the country...
why would it be a death blow? most retailers collect sales tax - why should internet retailers be any different?
ReplyDeleteBrick and mortar stores collect one sales tax - a fairly simple process paperwork-wise. Unless they introduce an extremely simplified internet only tax code, trying to handle the huge number of different tax rates for different areas will be a paperwork nightmare. For small businesses, this translates into a huge cost.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you don't have to pay shipping and handling when you shop at a store - but you do when you shop online. This affects the price you can sell an item for online - and adding tax just makes that price even less.