New polling data released by the R Street Institute and the National Taxpayers Union show that voters are strongly against Internet sales taxes. The Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA) is a losing bet among likely voters; 62 percent of likely primary voters and 57 percent of likely national voters are opposed to the idea. In fact, opposition rose to a solid 70 percent when survey respondents learned how tax collection would actually take place.
The poll asked respondents:
More specifically, the proposed legislation would allow tax enforcement agents from one state to collect taxes from online retailers based in a different state. For instance, if a customer in New York makes an Internet purchase from an Oregon retailer where there is no sales tax, authorities in New York can force that retailer to collect New York sales tax and send it to New York. Knowing this, do you favor or oppose federal legislation that changes how states collect sales taxes from Internet purchases?
Americans for Tax Reform and Digital Liberty have been providing strong arguments as to why the MFA is terrible for Americans – it is more than raising taxes, it is expanding state tax and regulatory authority. In May, Americans for Tax Reform sent the senators sponsoring the MFA a letter composed of 16 questions pointing to serious oversights in the legislation, none of which were adequately addressed.
eMainStreet has emphasized the serious business implications not just for small e-retailers or "brick and clicks," but also for manufactures wholesalers and distributors, and have explained numerous times why software is not a panacea. Additionally, the American Association of Attorney-Certified Public Accountants is publicly opposed to the MFA. Now, NTU and R Street are providing congressmen and senators with clear cut evidence that the MFA is not legislation that voters support. We urge elected officials to oppose any incarnation of the Marketplace Fairness Act.