Leaders of two major retail organizations have come forward in support of last night’s introduction of Senate legislation that combines the Marketplace Fairness Act and the Internet Tax Freedom Act into a single bill: the Marketplace and Internet Fairness Act.
“The shopping center industry would like to thank Senators Mike Enzi (R-WY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mark Pryor (D-AR) for their steadfast leadership on this issue and for working tirelessly to move long-overdue sales tax fairness legislation forward,” said Michael P. Kercheval, president and CEO of the International Council of Shopping Centers. “This bill signals that leveling the playing field for all retailers is a top priority for Congress this year,” he added.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association was also heartened that a level playing field could happen this year. “Retailers support keeping Internet access tax free while closing the online loophole that essentially subsidizes online-only retailers against their brick and mortar competitors. It’s time for the government to take its thumb off the scale and give all retailers a fair shot to compete in the free market,” commented Bill Hughes, executive v-p for Government Affairs at RILA. “Given the overwhelming bipartisan vote on the Marketplace Fairness Act in the Senate and near-universal support in the House for ITFA, it seems obvious that these issues can and should be resolved together this year.”
