Business Advocate – North Carolina: Remote sales tax bill stalls
On April 30, 2017, Netchoice sent Gov. Holcomb a letter asserting that HB 1129 “will be seen by Indiana consumers as a new tax and could erode your ability to protect Indiana businesses from out-of-state tax collectors” because it “encourages other states to create similar laws that would impact Indiana sellers.”
Netchoice asserted that Indiana’s HB 1129 would also
- Rely on new revenue extracted from Indiana residents – not from out-of-state businesses.
- Generate only minimal new tax revenue.
- Establish a new tax regime that is anything but equal, consistent, or fair.
Citing its own poll of Tennessee residents on a similar tax there, Netchoice contended that 56 percent of those residents said that “requiring them to pay tax on online purchases from out-of-state businesses would be a statewide tax increase.” Netchoice opined that it would “likely see similar results in a poll of Indiana citizens.”
Bolstering its position with a reference to the case South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc. et al, Netchoice promised that the same outcome, the court’s dismissal, would occur, which would not only prohibit Indiana from enforcing the law on out of state retailers, but force Indiana to “fritter[] away tax dollars on an unnecessary lawsuit” that it is bound to lose anyway.
Furthermore, Netchoice declared, the new tax would not actually generate new revenue, because most of the top e-retailers, like Amazon, already collect in Indiana, and what little new revenue would come in is not enough “to justify the legal costs and erosion of state sovereignty.”
Nor does a remote sales tax law level the playing field between retailers located within and outside the state, argued Netchoice. Instead, “HB 1129 foists disproportionate collection burdens on catalog and online retailers. When a customer enters a gift shop in Indianapolis, the store does not ask for that customer’s home address so she can look-up the tax rate and later remit the tax to the customer’s home state.”
Ultimately, Netchoice made a threat which, given its activity in this area, is not so empty: “We ask that you remove the remote seller tax collection language from HB 1129 and protect Indiana businesses from out-of-state tax auditors, protect Indiana citizens from a new tax, and avoid costly litigation the state is likely to lose.”