ShareOn March 15, NAR, as part of the "Marketplace Fairness Coalition," sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee urging its Chairman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) to hold a hearing on internet sales tax fairness legislation. It is crucial that Congress pass legislation allowing states to collect sales tax on purchases made through online retailers. Providing a level playing field between brick-and-mortar and e-commerce retailers not only helps keep traditional stores in business, but also will help bring much needed and owed revenue to the states which is currently going uncollected.
In the 114th Congress so far, Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) has introduced H.R. 2775, the Remote Transactions Parity Act (RTPA), which would allow states to require that e-commerce retailers collect and remit state sales tax, while providing important safeguards for the retailers themselves. In addition, Congressman Goodlatte circulated a discussion draft of alternate legislation in early 2015; it is expected that he will introduce that bill, the Online Sales Simplification Act (OSSA), soon. In the Senate there is S. 698, the Marketplace Fairness Act (Sen. Enzi, R-WY, and Durbin, D-IL); Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised a vote on it this year.