Advocacy

Last week, the National Governors Association wrote to the Senate Committee on Finance to urge passage of the Marketplace Fairness Act (S. 1832) this year.

States that are planning to create their own health insurance exchanges had until Friday, December 14, to announce their plans, but thus far only 17 states have announced intentions to run their own health exchanges.

On Tuesday, December 11, Gov. Deval Patrick announced that Amazon.com will collect and remit sales tax in Massachusetts starting next fall and that the online retailer will work with the state toward enactment of federal legislation to resolve the sales tax issue.

With the 112th Congress set to conclude at year’s end, an increasing number of newspaper editorial pages have been urging the passage of federal sales tax fairness legislation.

Lawmakers in Michigan and Florida recently introduced affiliate nexus bills that would require remote retailers with a presence in the state via online affiliates acting as sales agents to collect and remit sales tax.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression expressed thanks today to the artists, illustrators, publishers, and booksellers who contributed to the success of its just completed Holiday Children’s Art Auction.

On December 3, a majority of named class plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal to challenge a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York that grants preliminary approval to a proposed settlement of a long-standing antitrust class action filed by merchants against Visa, MasterCard, and the largest banks.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has joined the chorus of retailers and others that believe Amazon.com should be required to collect and remit sales tax for purchases made by residents of the state.

The International Council of Shopping Centers has released the results of a national poll that found a majority of Americans support the Congressional effort to require online retailers to collect sales tax at the point-of-purchase.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression’s  online auction of original children’s art by 50 of the book industry’s leading artists and illustrators ends on Tuesday afternoon, December 3.

A preview of children’s art that the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression will  auction on eBay from November 27 - December 3 can now be seen on Flickr.

A study released this week by the Massachusetts Main Street Fairness Coalition shows that sales tax inequity has cost Massachusetts 1,970 new jobs, $279 million in sales to local businesses, and $387 million in state tax revenue.

A U.S. District Court judge has granted preliminary approval to a proposed class-action settlement of a federal antitrust lawsuit over rapidly rising Visa and MasterCard credit card swipe fees despite opposition from 10 of the 19 named plaintiffs.

On November 1, 20 retailers and trade groups, including the American Booksellers Association, the National Association of College Stores, and the National Retail Federation, asked a judge to reject a proposed class-action settlement of a federal antitrust lawsuit over skyrocketing Visa and MasterCard credit card swipe fees.

On October 26, in its SEC quarterly filing, Amazon.com announced that, as part of a settlement with the state of Arizona, on February 1, 2013, the company would begin collecting and remitting transaction privilege tax (TPT, Arizona’s sales tax) to Arizona on in-state purchases.