Posted on 11/18/2013 10:20:31 AM PST by Kaslin
As the holiday shopping season approaches, consumer may find an unlikely adversary: the retail industry. According to reports, “big retailers like Walmart and Apple ramp up their holiday ads early this season” and “Representatives from leading retail associations name online sales tax legislation as a chief concern for their members right now.”
That’s right, the retail industry is targeting online Christmas shopping.
What proponents misleadingly call the “Marketplace Fairness Act” would significantly increase the cost of buying goods on the Internet. The bill would force online businesses to collect and remit sales tax based on each customer’s location. Put another way, it would turn small, online businesses into tax collectors for states in which they have no real connection. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) called it a “clear infringement on states’ rights that we cannot stand for.”
Even more alarming is the possibility that California tax bureaucrats could audit a Wyoming-based Internet business if they believed the business was not remitting the proper amount back to California. To protect themselves from overzealous tax bureaucrats in revenue-starved states, Internet-based businesses would likely hire expensive lawyers and accountants to deal with burdensome paperwork and complex tax laws. America has nearly 10,000 taxing jurisdictions and even though bill would require some streamlining, those businesses would still face the threat of 47 out-of-state audits.
A new survey by accounting firm McGladrey found 98-percent of businesses “would pass along increased compliance costs to the consumer.” That is bad news for consumers, but it is exactly what many in the retail industry seek. The Retail Industry Leaders Association’s Jason Brewer told Politico, “Retailers big and small are rowing in the same direction to make this the last holiday season online-only retailers get special tax treatment over Main Street.”
Not exactly.
First, there is no special tax treatment. As the Associated Press pointed out earlier this year, “In many states, shoppers are required to pay unpaid sales taxes when they file state tax returns.” That goes for online purchases as well as out-of-state purchases. The near-impossibility of enforcing existing law does not justify turning online businesses into out-of-state tax collectors. If the retail industry were truly interested in “fairness,” they would be demanding the same collection activity from physical retailers in “tax-free” Delaware.
Second, size does matters. The McGladrey survey found attitudes toward the Internet Sales Tax differ substantially based on size. Accounting Today reported:
“McGladrey polled online retailers with annual revenues between $10 million and $1 billion, and found that only 38 percent of them projected that the MFA would have a negative impact on their profitability. However, the picture changed significantly when comparing projections in the higher versus lower revenue ranges. While 50 percent of executives at companies with annual revenues between $10 million and $50 million projected negative impacts on profit, the number dropped to 22 percent for executives at companies in the $150 million to $1 billion range.”
A 2010 study on the top 20 “E-Trailers” found 15 of those retailers – and yes, this includes Walmart and Apple – paid sales tax in 44 or more states. NPR reported another, Amazon, “is already facing a big tax collection requirement as it develops its next-day-delivery service.”
The fight over the Internet Sales Tax isn’t a Main Street versus Internet Retailer fight; it’s a fight to trample competition and preserve market share. Steve DelBianco, the executive director of NetChoice, which opposes the bill, said this “has never been about helping Main Street, but about helping Big Box stores.”
As Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement (and presidency) continues to crumble before our eyes, proponents of this tax plan are continuing to work quietly behind the scenes. Conservatives must ensure the tax-schemers do not play the role of the Grinch who stole Christmas.
Enjoy it now. Next year all disposable income will be going to Health Care premiums, co-pays, and deductibles.
I love the Brit adverts for Christmas, some Scrooge’s argue it’s become a competition of sorts. One of my favorites is the John Lewis advert from 2011 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSLOnR1s74o
Though the one they did this year is really lovely as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqWig2WARb0
Enjoy!
“Marketplace Fairness Act”
It sounds like they pulled that name right out of Atlas Shrugged.
Atlas Shrugged isn’t a novel. It’s a documentary.
When Atlas is done shrugging, he’s going to pick up a gun.
Here’s my best Christmas story:
In ‘93, I was in Turkey over the Christmas/New Year holiday. Downtown Istanbul had more Christmas decorations than Seattle did.
NSA.
Lucky you. Poor Kerry was floating on a river in Cambodia while he was scrounging up a bandaid for a paper cut.
I hope the author didn’t hurt himself twisting this into a War on Christmas.
The existence of A “shopping season” IS the war on Christmas.
Not in 93
Huh?
I agree. I heard the first Christmas music in a store around November 8. The next town up the road has a “Christmas Festival, November 23.” Excuse me?
I heard that every time a Christmas song is played before Thanksgiving an elf kicks a reindeer.
I think I saw that, too. Someone’s tagline?
No joke.
Mine went up 50%. That's for a "comparable plan", which isn't really comparable. The plan that's actually comparable is more than my house payment, every month. So, that's not much of an option anymore.
Still trying to figure out what we're going to do, and hoping that common sense breaks out.
Atlas Shrugged.
This is the “equalization of opportunity act” to protect the buggy whip makers in the age of private air travel.
I wish there was a way to punish the box companies. If “best buy” lobbies for taxes then we can not only avoid them, but hit the shows they advertise around. hurt them in the pocket and make them a pariah.
If a congressman accepts money from this buggy whip makers then they pay the price.
at the voting booth.
I moved to the Seattle area in 72. I worked as an installer for a sign company that made and/or installed neon and electric business signs. Banks, car dealers, oil companies, McDonalds etc.
We had several crews installing decorations the week following Thanksgiving and removing them after New Years day.
The 90 feet high South Center Mall sign had provisions to bolt down a steel 30 foot, multi piece, ring around the base with eyebolts. The sign had corresponding anchors on the bottom. We spent a day attaching steel wire cables rapped with lights making a cone of light. Other crews installed smaller decorations on light standards. Similar things were done at other malls.
Four men spent a day with one guy hanging in a bosom chair from a 118 foot crane rapping light strings around a 100 foot fir tree.
Three men spent a day at the downtown Bon Marche. Above the main door they had 9 individual 3 foot letters plus a Logo at the top. We removed them using a window washer type stage their maintenance people provided. They installed a cross after we left. We took the letters to our shop where they were refurbish to be reinstalled after the 1st.
Ladybird Johnson campaigned for and help pass the “Help Beatify America act. It was to remove eyesores from the nations highways. Billboards were the first to come under attack. Oil company signs were next. Last was any large sign that could be seen from a freeway.
The 70s brought a wave of environmentalism. Large signs were a waste of electricity and ugly. You have no idea how hard it is for a business to have a sign big enough for people to even know they are there in some areas.
I have no first hand knowledge of what caused this area to stop putting up decorations but that is when it happened. BVB
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