Alliance for Main Street Fairness

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The Alliance for Main Street Fairness is an advocacy group based in the United States of America dedicated to ending what it sees as unfair tax advantages for online-only retailers with respect to the collection of sales taxes. The group supports the Marketplace Fairness Act (S.1832;112th Congress). Members include retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, Sears, and thousands of small retailers.

Contents

Issues

Alibaba

The Alliance for Main Street Fairness purchased radio and television ads in December 2014 calling for Congress to end what the group called "special tax treatment" for Alibaba and other e-commerce sites. This was one of the largest public relations campaigns ever conduct against a Chinese company in the United States. [1]

Amazon

AMSF criticized Amazon's Price Check app and Price Check Day promotion. The AMSF stated, "This app is simply another ploy by Amazon to exploit the loophole that allows them to evade collecting state sales taxes." AMSF also stated, "no retailer can compete with the special treatment" Amazon receives by not being required to collect sales taxes. [2]

Borders Books

In a statement on the bankruptcy and liquidation of Borders Books AMSF wrote, "Special treatment for Amazon.com is decimating job providers like Borders and countless small businesses across the country. It is simply not fair that one business is able to operate with a government-sanctioned advantage that allows it to undercut its competitors forcing lost jobs and business closures. Lawmakers need to level the playing field and end the special deal that gives Amazon a competitive advantage over Main Street.” [3]

Marketplace Fairness Act

After eBay implicitly endorsed an exemption for businesses with $30 million or less in annual sales, AMSF attacked the online auctioneer. saying that it was only trying to protect the largest firms selling from its site. [4]

AMSF released a video in late 2014 in support of the Marketplace Fairness Act. The video showcased testimonials from conservative groups and intellectuals supporting "e-fairness." The video includes a brief statement from economist Art Laffer. Laffer released a study touting the benefits of treating online and offline commerce equally. He said that the Marketplace Fairness Act would give states the ability to reduce other taxes. [5]

AMSF criticized Senator Ted Cruz in a BuzzFeed post for his opposition to the Marketplace Fairness Act. AMSF claimed that Cruz had "flip-flopped" on his conservative principles by supporting special tax treatment for online retailers. “While Ted Cruz gallivants across the country giving speeches on the American dream,” the post reads, “he denies it to the local small business owners back home.” In its post AMSF also stated, "Ted Cruz works to tilt the free market in favor of big online retailers LIKE ALIBABA..." [6]

State legislation

Pennsylvania

In May 2011 the Alliance announced its intention to hand deliver a petition to each state legislator in order to encourage them to support legislation mandating sales taxes for online retailers. [7] In June 2011 the Alliance launched an ad campaign in Pennsylvania featuring television, radio, and newspaper ads across the state. [8]

In December 2011 Pennsylvania changed its rules regarding what constitutes a physical nexus within the state to require more businesses to collect and remit sales tax.[ citation needed ] Pennsylvania has also added a line on its 2011 income tax form for taxpayers to report online purchases and pay use tax. [9] In February 2012 the Pennsylvania state government predicted that it would collect an additional $40 million in sales tax from internet retailers. [9] Out-of-state online retailers, such as Amazon.com, were granted a one-time reprieve until September 2012 after which they could face enforcement action. [9] The Alliance for Main Street Fairness praised all of these actions. [9]

Tennessee

In March 2011 the Alliance ran advertisements opposing the efforts of Tennessee officials, including Gov. Bill Haslam, to finalize an agreement with Amazon.com that would exempt the company from collecting sales taxes in exchange for opening two distribution centers in the state. “Why would the state let Amazon get away with not collecting and paying the biggest source of revenue in Tennessee: its sales tax?” one ad said. [10]

In June 2011, state attorney general Roy Cooper affirmed the constitutionality of a proposed bill in the state legislature that building distribution centers in a state creates a physical presence or nexus sufficient to force retailers like Amazon to collect sales tax on goods it ships to Tennessee residents. [11] The Alliance for Main Street Fairness called the attorney general’s opinion “encouraging news for the thousands of Tennessee small business owners who don’t want our elected officials to give Amazon special treatment.” [11]

Virginia

In January 2012 the Alliance announced its support for legislation introduced by State Senator Frank Wagner that would require companies with a distribution center, warehouse, fulfillment center, office, or other such location in the Commonwealth of Virginia to collect and remit sales tax. [12]

In January 2012 Virginia and Amazon.com reached an agreement regarding the collection of sales tax on purchases made by Virginia residents. Under the agreement Amazon will begin collecting sales tax on purchases made by Virginia residents on 1 September 2013. Amazon will begin collecting sales tax ten months after opening distribution centers in Chesterfield and Dinwiddle counties. [13]

Membership

Alliance for Main Street members include large retailers such as AutoZone, Best Buy, Home Depot, Sears, Target, and Wal-Mart but also has thousands of small-business members. [14] [15] AMSF has a Small Business Advisory Board with representatives from small retailers across the country. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sales tax</span> Tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services

A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase.

FairTax is a single rate tax proposal which has been proposed as a bill in the United States Congress regularly since 2005 that includes complete dismantling of the Internal Revenue Service. The proposal would eliminate all federal income taxes, payroll taxes, gift taxes, and estate taxes, replacing them with a single consumption tax on retail sales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FatWallet</span>

FatWallet was a comparison shopping website, centering on a set of forums that allowed users to publish deals and rebate offers on products and services, with computer-related products and electronics most prominent in the listings. It was headquartered in Beloit, Wisconsin, and ceased operation on October 9, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Online shopping</span> Form of electronic commerce

Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the retailer directly or by searching among alternative vendors using a shopping search engine, which displays the same product's availability and pricing at different e-retailers. As of 2020, customers can shop online using a range of different computers and devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablet computers and smartphones.

Drop shipping is a form of retail business in which the seller accepts customer orders without keeping stock on hand. Instead, in a form of supply chain management, the seller transfers the orders and their shipment details either to the manufacturer, a wholesaler, another retailer, or a fulfillment house, which then ships the goods directly to the customer.

Amazon China, formerly known as Joyo.com, is an online shopping website. Joyo.com was founded in early 2000 by the Chinese entrepreneur Lei Jun in Beijing, China. The company primarily sold books and other media goods, shipping to customers nationwide. Joyo.com was renamed to “Amazon China” when sold to Amazon Inc in 2004 for US$75 Million. Amazon China closed its domestic business in China in June 2019 after the US severed all relations with china, offering only products from sellers located overseas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alibaba Group</span> Chinese multinational technology company

Alibaba Group Holding Limited, branded as Alibaba, is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology. Founded on 28 June 1999 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, the company provides consumer-to-consumer (C2C), business-to-consumer (B2C), and business-to-business (B2B) sales services via Chinese and global marketplaces, as well as local consumer, digital media and entertainment, logistics and cloud computing services. It owns and operates a diverse portfolio of companies around the world in numerous business sectors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sales taxes in the United States</span> Overview of sales taxes in the United States of America

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Amazon Marketplace is an e-commerce platform owned and operated by Amazon that enables third-party sellers to sell new or used products directly to consumers on a fixed-price online marketplace alongside Amazon's regular offerings. Using Amazon Marketplace, third-party sellers gain access to Amazon's customer base, and Amazon expands the offerings on its site without having to invest in additional inventory.

The Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP), first organized in March 2000, is intended to simplify and modernize sales and use tax collection and administration in the United States. It arose in response to efforts by Congress to permanently prohibit states from collecting sales tax on online commerce. Because such a ban would have serious financial consequences for states, the SSTP began as an effort to try to minimize the many differences between the states' sales tax policies and practices. The SSTP was dissolved once the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA) became effective on October 1, 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taobao</span> Chinese website for online shopping

Taobao is a Chinese online shopping platform. It is headquartered in Hangzhou and is owned by Alibaba. According to Alexa rank, it was the eighth most-visited website globally in 2021. Taobao.com was registered on April 21, 2003 by Alibaba Cloud Computing (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

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Tmall, formerly Taobao Mall, is a Chinese-language website for business-to-consumer (B2C) online retail, spun off from Taobao, operated in China by Alibaba Group. It is a platform for local Chinese and international businesses to sell brand-name goods to consumers in Greater China. It has over 500 million monthly active users, as of February 2018. In the last few years, it has opened its features to brands, not only for online sales but also for developing brand awareness. According to Alexa Rank, it is the third most visited website globally in 2021.

The Main Street Fairness Act was a bill introduced in the United States House of Representatives to "promote simplification and fairness in the administration and collection of sales and use taxes, and for other purposes." Specifically, the Main Street Fairness Act would have allowed state governments to require out-of-state retailers to collect and remit sales tax on purchases shipped to residents of those states. The Main Street Fairness Act was introduced by William Delahunt, a Democrat from Massachusetts, on June 30, 2010 and the bill expired at the end of the 111th Congress without being enacted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marketplace Fairness Act</span>

The Marketplace Fairness Act was a proposed legislation pending in the United States Congress that would enable state governments to collect sales taxes and use taxes from remote retailers with no physical presence in their state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lazada</span> Singaporean-Chinese multinational technology

Lazada Group is an international e-commerce company and one of the largest e-commerce operators in Southeast Asia, with over 10,000 third-party sellers as of November 2014, and 50 million annual active buyers as of September 2019.

South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., 585 U.S. ___ (2018), was a United States Supreme Court case that held by a 5–4 majority that states may charge tax on purchases made from out-of-state sellers even if the seller does not have a physical presence in the taxing state. The decision overturned Quill Corp. v. North Dakota (1992), which had held that the Dormant Commerce Clause barred states from compelling retailers to collect sales or use taxes in connection with mail order or Internet sales made to their residents unless those retailers have a physical presence in the taxing state.

References

  1. Chan, Edwin (1 December 2014). "U.S. retailers warn of Chinese giant Alibaba's impact in U.S." Reuters. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  2. Chang, Andrea (7 December 2011). "Retail groups lash out after Amazon announces Price Check app promotion". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  3. Boog, Jason (19 July 2011). "Amazon Advantage Blamed in Borders Liquidation". Galley Cat, Media Bistro. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  4. "Online Sales Cost Cities And Counties Billions In Taxes, Mayors Say". National Public Radio. Washington, DC. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  5. O'Bannon, Isaac M. (18 November 2014). "Business Group Urges GOP to Reconsider Marketplace Fairness Act". CPA Practice Advisor. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  6. Railey, Kimberly (3 December 2014). "U.S. retailers attack Ted Cruz as friend of China's Alibaba". The Dallas Morning News. Dallas, Texas. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  7. "Hundreds Of Pennsylvania Businesses Simply Want Fairness" (Press release). Alliance for Main Street Fairness. 24 May 2011. Archived from the original on August 27, 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-01.
  8. BRENT BURKEY (1 June 2011). "Alliance launches Pa. ad campaign for online sales tax". Central Penn Business Journal. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Pa. expects $40 million from tax on Internet retailers". Public Opinion. 13 February 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-02-01. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  10. "Group pushes back on Amazon tax deal". Nashville Business Journal. 24 March 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  11. 1 2 Mike Pare (29 June 2011). "Attorney General: State can force Amazon on taxes". Times Free Press. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  12. "Virginia legislation targets Amazon.com". WDBJ7.com. 30 January 2012.
  13. Web staff (22 February 2012). "Amazon.com will start collecting sales tax in Virginia". WTKR.com.
  14. http://www.geekwire.com/2011/guide-amazon-losing-tax-battle
  15. Mark Albright (29 March 2011). "Retailers put new pressure on Amazon.com over sales taxes". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on 1 April 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  16. "Level the playing field for all business". Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 1 August 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2015.