Sales Tax Initiative

Four months after the Senate overwhelmingly passed the Marketplace Fairness Act, the U.S. House of Representatives is addressing the issue of sales tax fairness. On September 18, the House Judiciary Committee released its seven “basic principles” for sales tax fairness legislation.

In a surprising move, Amazon.com has reportedly withdrawn its request for a tax abatement and reduced building permit fees from Windsor, Connecticut, which it had asked for in exchange for opening a 1.5 million-square-foot distribution facility in the town.

National Book Foundation to honor E.L. Doctorow, Maya Angelou; Judy Blume to receive NAIBA’s Legacy and Carla Cohen Free Speech awards; Hugo Award winners announced; Amazon begins collecting sales tax in Georgia and Virginia

ABA CEO Oren Teicher has written an open letter to Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos that highlights the discrepancy between the company’s professed support for e-fairness and its ongoing business practices.

After challenging New York State’s sales tax fairness law three times — and losing three times — at the state level, Amazon.com and Overstock.com have taken the fight to the nation’s highest court.

While Amazon.com has agreed with the state of Connecticut to begin collecting and remitting sales tax in the state as of November 1, 2013, the online retailer is now seeking multi-year property tax abatements and other exemptions from Windsor, Connecticut, in exchange for opening a distribution center in the town.

This week, a coalition of 18 independent trade associations, led by ABA, urged the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on the Judiciary to hold a hearing on sales tax fairness.

Amazon has fired all its online affiliates in Missouri to avoid the requirement to collect and remit sales tax to the state. Missouri passed an affiliate nexus law in July.

Beginning September 1, Amazon.com will begin complying with Georgia’s affiliate nexus law, which went into effect on January 1. Enforcement of the law is expected to add $16 million annually to the state’s coffers and create more than 50,000 jobs.

That’s the message of the Alliance for Main Street Fairness, which highlights three steps that small business owners and other local citizens can take during Congress’ August recess to encourage their U.S. representatives to support the Marketplace Fairness Act.

This week, ABA CEO Oren Teicher offers both perspective on recent events and resources to help member bookstores share with customers facts about Amazon that tell a story they might not know.

The strong reaction of independent booksellers and other Main Street advocates to President Obama’s visit to an Amazon warehouse in Tennessee to deliver an address on job creation was reported in media outlets across the country.

On the heels of press reports that Amazon has drastically lowered the price on many hardcover titles, on Monday, July 29, the Board of Directors of the American Booksellers Association and CEO Oren Teicher criticized President Obama’s decision to hold his jobs speech this week at an Amazon facility in Tennessee.

Maine and Missouri enact affiliate nexus laws; SIBA launches read-aloud program Parapalooza; Man Booker Prize longlist revealed; Romance Writers of America announces RITA, Golden Heart winners; Student spending on textbooks increases; ABFFE asks for transparency from Congress; Amazon loses battle to acquire .amazon Internet suffix

In a  report released last week, Dr. Arthur Laffer, a leading proponent of conservative economics, and co-author Donna Arduin, a former state budget director, argue that implementing sales tax fairness is necessary to address a fundamental inequity in the free market.