Michigan’s Main Street Retailers to Compete on Level Playing Field

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Michigan’s Main Street retailers will at long last be competing with Amazon on a level playing field during the upcoming holiday season and beyond. As of Thursday, October 1, Amazon and other online retailers with nexus in the state are required to collect and remit Michigan’s six percent sales tax.

Tom Scott, senior vice president of communications and marketing for the Michigan Retailers Association, told MichiganLive.com: “Retailers in Michigan will have a more level playing field against out-of-state competition, which is extremely important all the time, but especially going into the holiday shopping season.”

In January 2015, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation requiring remote retailers with warehouses, distribution centers, or a broad network of online affiliates to begin collecting and remitting sales tax to the state beginning October 1, 2015. Amazon has offices in Detroit.

The American Booksellers Association was among the organizations that advocated for the bill in 2014, and ABA member bookstores in Michigan adapted template letters from the association’s E-Fairness Action Kit to urge their state lawmakers to support the affiliate nexus bill.

According to a Michigan Senate Fiscal Analysis, the law has the potential to increase “General Fund revenue by approximately $10.0 million per year; School Aid Fund revenue by approximately $44.0 million per year; and local unit revenue by approximately $6.0 million per year.”

“It is great news that, as we enter the holiday shopping season, our bookstore members are no longer competing with online retailers at an unfair competitive disadvantage,” said David Grogan, senior public policy analyst for ABA. “With Congress failing to act on federal legislation, we are seeing states taking matters into their own hands, buoyed by the strong and persistent support of independent bookstores and their retailing neighbors. This is a great victory for Michigan retailers, as well as for communities throughout the state.”