TaxCloud, a certified service provider (CSP), estimated that 350,000 to 3.5 million retailers could be affected by the implementation of the Marketplace Fairness Act/MITFA. An Internet sales tax mandate would place a burden on millions of retailers across the country that would force them to change their tax policy for the worse.
MFA seeks to force one state’s sales tax upon another based on the concept that the Internet has grown to the point of allowing such transactions to be made easily. However, this mandate would ultimately allow certain states to impose their tax policies on customers buying products in other states. With the potential for 3.5 million retailers to have to alter their decision making, MFA/MITFA is yet another intrusive tax that would harm the growth of both the economy and online retail.
This estimate is far above the number of businesses that one might expect to be ensnared by MFA/MITFA. This just goes to show the unwelcome and obstructive nature of such a federal tax mandate.