The Marketplace Fairness Act – a bill that would require online businesses to collect sales tax for every state – made it through the Senate this week. Now it has to make its way through the House where many expect it to face some heavy resistance. House Speaker John Boehner may just be part of that resistance.
The Hill reports that Boehner, in an interview with Bloomberg Television, came out against the Marketplace Fairness Act saying it would put “a big burden on some very small businesses.” That burden, he says, is requiring small businesses to comply with 50 different sales tax codes.
Of course, the big question here is whether or not he would vote yes if the bill were to come up for a vote. He said “probably not,” but that’s by no means an outright rejection of the bill. It’s more like a rejection of the bill in its current state. That will undoubtedly change, however, as the Marketplace Fairness Act will have to make its way through the House Judiciary Committee where Chairman Bob Goodlatte has indicated he will address his concerns with the bill.
Boehner and Goodlatte are hardly the only opposition the bill faces in the House going forward. Many in and outside the House have voiced displeasure with the bill in its current state. Groups like Americans for Tax Reform have come out strongly against the bill saying that it would not only burden small businesses, but it would also tax financial transactions. They fear that it will ultimately become more expensive for people to invest thus nulling any advantages the bill has for retail stores.
With all this in mind, it’s important to remember that the Marketplace Fairness Act may never even be brought up for debate. The House is pretty busy at the moment so it’s hard to say when, or if, the bill will be brought up.
We’ll be sure to bring you all the updates if it does reach the House floor for debate. There’s bound to be some interesting arguments from both sides.