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Sales Tax Fairness

NRF Welcomes Introduction of Marketplace Equity Act, Reveals Polling Data on Sales Tax Fairness

For Immediate Release
Contact: Stephen E. Schatz (202) 626-8119
SchatzS@NRF.com

View preliminary polling memo here.

NRF Welcomes Introduction of Marketplace Equity Act, Reveals Initial Polling Data on Sales Tax Fairness

Washington, October 12, 2011 – The National Retail Federation today welcomed the introduction of bipartisan legislation sponsored by Representatives Steve Womack, R-Ark., and Jackie Speier, D-Calif., aimed at eliminating inequities of the current sales tax system in the United States. Also today, NRF released the initial results of a new poll showing that American voters believe the current sales tax system, which allows many online sales to go untaxed, needs to be simplified.

“The introduction of the Marketplace Equity Act focuses much-needed attention on tax fairness for all retailers,” said NRF Senior Vice President of Government Relations David French. “This bill is a step forward in NRF’s long-standing efforts to level the sales tax playing field between physical and online retailers, and helps move toward a federal legislative solution to this issue.”

The Marketplace Equity Act seeks to provide a framework for states to collect sales taxes from out-of-state online retailers who sell products to their residents.

“Allowing all retailers to play by the same tax rules – rather than giving one group of retailers an unfair advantage over another – is sound public policy, and will help to protect American communities and retail jobs on Main Street,” French said. “America was founded on the concepts of free enterprise and fair competition. Those same ideals should apply to sales tax collection – no matter the location of a given retailer.”

New Poll Shows Voters Understand the Value of Sales Tax Fairness

Also today, NRF released the preliminary results of a new, bipartisan poll conducted by Purple Strategies for NRF, which found that:

83 percent agree that “we need a clearer approach that will simplify how sales tax is collected.”

70 percent agree that “the current law hurts businesses and consumers by setting two different standards for collecting sales tax.”

61 percent agree that “the current sales tax rules deny states critical revenue they need to pay for schools, police and firefighters.”

“The initial data supports NRF’s contention that a fair and free marketplace should and deserves to be protected,” French said. “This is not about raising taxes or a new online sales tax, this is about treating every retailer – from big-box stores to online websites – the same, so competition is free and fair for all.”

The poll surveyed 800 likely 2012 voters nationwide through live-interviewer telephone calls on October 3-8. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent. For more information on the survey, click here.

Addressing sales tax inequities between online and bricks-and-mortar retailers is a key element of NRF’s Jobs, Innovation and Consumer Value Agenda, released as part of its Retail Means Jobs campaign in September.

As the world’s largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide, NRF’s global membership includes retailers of all sizes, formats and channels of distribution as well as chain restaurants and industry partners from the United States and more than 45 countries abroad. In the United States, NRF represents an industry that includes more than 3.6 million establishments and which directly and indirectly accounts for 42 million jobs – one in four U.S. jobs. The total U.S. GDP impact of retail is $2.5 trillion annually, and retail is a daily barometer of the health of the nation’s economy. www.nrf.com.

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