Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/827208
12 S C T / J U N E 2 0 1 7 M A I N S T R E E E T T H E C O M M O N A R E A Leveling the playing field B ipartisan bills to allow states to collect taxes on goods purchased online have been introduced in the U.S. House and Senate. The ICSC-backed bills are designed to correct what is seen as an unfair advantage online retailers have over brick-and-mortar stores; while the latter are required to collect and remit sales taxes, online retailers only have to do so if they have a physical presence — such as a warehouse — in a given state. "Unfortunately, the existing inequality means the deck is too often stacked against our main-street retailers," said Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D. Noem was one of several co- sponsors, from each party, of the Remote Transactions Parity Act, which was introduced in the House last month. Senators simultaneously introduced the Marketplace Fairness Act. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., a lead sponsor of the Senate bill, said the measure "is about supporting jobs and services we have in our towns, while ensuring [that] states have the ability to collect taxes they are owed, if they choose to." A previous Marketplace Fairness Act passed the Senate in 2013 by a bipartisan vote of 69-27, but was not taken up in the House. Research by ICSC and the National Conference of State Legislatures concluded that states lost an estimated $26 billion to the online sales-tax loophole in 2015. Businesses with annual sales of less than $10 million would continue to be exempt from collecting and remitting state sales taxes under the House bill. The exemption threshold under the Senate bill would be annual sales of less than 1 million. "We are pleased that legislation was reintroduced in Congress this week to empower states to modernize their tax laws and provide parity to local businesses and the communities they serve," said ICSC President and CEO Tom McGee. "These important measures will fix an outdated tax loophole that currently gives online retailers a price advantage of up to 10 percent over brick-and-mortar stores, has shortchanged communities on much-needed sales-tax revenue and overcomplicated our country's current sales-tax system." ICSC is encouraging members to contact their Congressional representatives to express their support for the legislation. Besides Noem, the House co- sponsors were Lou Barletta, R-Pa., Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, David Cicilline, D-R.I., John Conyers, D-Mich., Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., Jackie Speier, D-Calif., Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Steve Womack, R-Ark. The Senate co-sponsors, besides Enzi, were Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D. n Congress is considering new 'main street fairness' bills By Edmund Mander