Yesterday the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), released a list of seven principles on Internet tax fairness intended to provide a framework for future discussions. The principles acknowledge that “Brick & Mortar, Exclusively Online, and Brick & Click businesses should all be on equal footing,” while calling for no new or discriminatory taxes for the offline world.
The National Retail Federation, the largest retail trade association, issued a statement of its own that welcomed the release of the principles. “These principles will serve as a legislative roadmap for advancing sales tax fairness legislation in the House of Representatives, and demonstrate that Congress is listening to the pleas of local, community retailers and merchants, who continue to face an unfair competitive disadvantage with their online competitors,” commented senior v-p of government relations David French. He also said that the group looked forward to providing critical feedback to the Committee and to participate in legislative hearings as the debate on Internet tax bills move forward.
