On May 6th, 2013, the U.S. Senate passed an Internet sales tax bill called the Marketplace Fairness Act. If this bill is allowed to become law, it would require many online sellers to collect sales taxes nationwide from the more than 9,600 tax jurisdictions. Additionally, sellers would face the prospect of being audited by tax collectors from far away states. The legislation was pushed through the Senate without meaningful hearings to give small businesses a chance to express concerns or an opportunity for Senators to amend the bill.
Unfortunately, the bill’s supporters and their lobbyists may be trying to bypass the regular legislative process and sneak this bill into law by attaching it to an unrelated federal budget bill in the months ahead.