Close online sales-tax loophole
There is a bill in the Kansas Legislature that would allow our state to join the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, which provides one uniform system to administer and collect sales tax. This would eliminate the burden of the country’s diverse sales-tax systems on retailers.
The reason our system is currently burdensome is because Internet-only retailers are not required to pay state sales tax while our brick-and-mortar stores are. The online sales-tax loophole has put stores in our community at a competitive disadvantage for far too long. Even when local retailers can match online prices, they still must collect sales tax from you, which in Kansas makes the price 7 or 8 percent higher.
Though the state bill is an important step in giving our community-based stores a fair chance to compete, ultimately we need a federal solution. The Marketplace Fairness Act, currently under consideration by the U.S. Senate, allows states such as Kansas to enforce their existing sales-tax codes by choosing a simplification solution that best fits the state.
I urge Kansas Sens. Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts to co-sponsor the Marketplace Fairness Act. Kansas retailers, the backbone of our economy, have been disadvantaged for too long.
SARAH BAGBY
Owner
Watermark Books
Wichita
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2012/04/04/2282926/letters-to-the-editor-on-streamlined.html#storylink=cpy
My Take On This: Instead of complaining about a so-called disadvantage, she should also try selling her wares online. Instead of asking the government to level the playing field for her on a State and Federal level, she should be advocating for the repeal of the state sales tax altogether!
There is a bill in the Kansas Legislature that would allow our state to join the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, which provides one uniform system to administer and collect sales tax. This would eliminate the burden of the country’s diverse sales-tax systems on retailers.
The reason our system is currently burdensome is because Internet-only retailers are not required to pay state sales tax while our brick-and-mortar stores are. The online sales-tax loophole has put stores in our community at a competitive disadvantage for far too long. Even when local retailers can match online prices, they still must collect sales tax from you, which in Kansas makes the price 7 or 8 percent higher.
Though the state bill is an important step in giving our community-based stores a fair chance to compete, ultimately we need a federal solution. The Marketplace Fairness Act, currently under consideration by the U.S. Senate, allows states such as Kansas to enforce their existing sales-tax codes by choosing a simplification solution that best fits the state.
I urge Kansas Sens. Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts to co-sponsor the Marketplace Fairness Act. Kansas retailers, the backbone of our economy, have been disadvantaged for too long.
SARAH BAGBY
Owner
Watermark Books
Wichita
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2012/04/04/2282926/letters-to-the-editor-on-streamlined.html#storylink=cpy
My Take On This: Instead of complaining about a so-called disadvantage, she should also try selling her wares online. Instead of asking the government to level the playing field for her on a State and Federal level, she should be advocating for the repeal of the state sales tax altogether!
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