April 26, 2011
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the lawmaker behind the controversial amendment to regulate debit interchange fees, may soon introduce legislation that would permit states to mandate sales tax collection by Internet retailers.
“Durbin’s office declined to confirm that a new online sales tax bill was in the works, but sources close to the matter say the senator is primed to introduce legislation as early as this spring” reports Internet Retailer. “Since 2000, lawmakers have introduced similar bills in every two-year session of Congress. Privately, online taxing experts say this year’s attempt could have a higher chance of success not only because of Durbin’s leadership role, but also because states face mounting pressure to find new revenue.”
The legislation would likely mirror the Main Street Fairness Act legislation introduced last year, which would allow states that are members of the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SST) to mandate most online and catalog retailers to collect sales tax regardless of the location of their physical facilities. The SST currently has 24 members, and under the organization’s guidelines, member states would split 0.75% of sales tax revenue collected on Internet and catalog transactions with the retailers that collected the tax.
Click here to read more on the proposed eCommerce tax legislation.
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