Newsletter

March 29, 2013 - Senate Could Vote on Sales Tax Fairness in April

A week after winning a key test vote, a sponsor of sales tax fairness legislation says he will push the Senate to act on actual passage as soon as lawmakers return from their spring break in April.

Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., wants to move the Marketplace Fairness Act “as soon as possible when the Senate returns to Washington” the week of April 8, an aide told CQ-Roll Call. Durbin is “confident that the bill will be successful as either a stand-alone bill or part of a larger piece of legislation,” the aide said.

The lead sponsor of the bill, Senator Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., “would like to get it passed into law this year,” a spokesman said.

The Senate voted 75-24 a week ago today to add language to the federal budget resolution letting states require online sellers to collect sales tax the same as local stores. The budget resolution is only a guideline for Congress, not actual law, so another vote will have to be taken before sales tax fairness can be enacted. But the move was the first time the issue had come to the floor of either chamber of Congress since a non-binding “sense of Congress” vote in the House in 2001, and supporters said it showed Congress is finally ready to act.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., argued against last week’s test vote, saying the issue should have a “full, complete hearing” before action is taken, and should probably be considered in the context of comprehensive tax reform.

© 2013 National Retail Federation