Despite high hopes for its passage from supporters of e-fairness, the clock is ticking down for the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013. But earlier this week Pennsylvania legislators put their support behind the federal legislation for e-fairness with the passage of House Resolution 571 (HR 571), introduced by Rep. Justin Simmons (R-Lehigh/Northampton).
In urging Congress to pass the Marketplace Fairness Act, the resolution refers to two studies, which detail the economics behind a level playing field. In one written this summer on Pro-Growth Tax Reform and e-Fairness, economists Art Laffer and Donna Arduin show that passage of federal e-fairness legislation coupled with pro-growth tax strategies could result in Pennsylvania gaining as many as 43,000 jobs and $15.1 billion in additional GDP growth over the next 10 years.
On September 1, 2012, the state of Pennsylvania, which has six Amazon fulfillment centers, began collecting sales tax on orders shipped to residents. In December 2011, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue issued a bulletin that clarified that state law requires an out-of-state retailer to collect sales tax if it has property stored or distributed through warehouses in the state or if it uses affiliated sales agents to direct sales to its Web site.
