Advocacy

Michelle Ahlmer, executive director of the Arizona Retailers Association, discusses the hard work that resulted in Arizona sales tax fairness legislation making significant progress this year, as well as the prospects for next year.

ABA is asking member bookstores in South Carolina to call senators in both their store and home districts to urge them to vote “No” on S. 808,  a bill that would provide Amazon.com and QVC with a five-year sales tax exemption.

Despite making significant progress in the legislature, it appears that sales tax equity legislation will not come to a vote in Arizona this year.

The ABA Board of Directors has sent a special appeal to their fellow booksellers to resume the 10-year-old battle to restore the safeguards for reader privacy that were eliminated by the USA Patriot Act.

In the past week, Massachusetts booksellers David Didriksen and Carole Horne and Vermont booksellers Liza Bernard and Chris Morrow participated in hearings in support of sales tax fairness legislation in their respective states.

Hawaii House Bill 548 died in the state’s Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor this week, following months of opposition by Media Coalition, whose members include ABFFE and AAP.

On Monday, April 11, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed legislation addressing constitutional flaws in a statute that was challenged by a coalition including Harvard Book Store, Porter Square Books, ABFFE, and others.

On Tuesday, April 5, the Senate voted 87 – 12 to fully repeal the expanded 1099 reporting requirement in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The bill, HR 4, now goes to President Obama for his signature.

It is shaping up to be a notable year for sales tax fairness, as more states introduce, pass, or sign sales tax fairness legislation into law despite threats by Amazon.com and Overstock.com to terminate sales affiliates or close warehouses.

This week, ABA hosted sales tax fairness workshops at Booksellers Forums in Salt Lake City, Utah, in conjunction with MPIBA, and Manhattan Beach, California, in conjunction with SCIBA.

As the sales tax fairness fight continues to gain momentum nationwide, on Monday, March 28, booksellers in Connecticut and Texas testified before legislative committees about pending legislation.

There have been two recent victories in sales tax parity – affiliate nexus legislation approved by the Arkansas legislature, and, in South Dakota, new legislation enacted into law.

George Skelton, political columnist for the Los Angeles Times, believes that Amazon.com and other online sellers that have affiliates in the state of California should be paying sales tax on purchases by in-state residents.

In a March 18 editorial, the New York Times said, “Collecting state taxes is not an unreasonable burden for online retailers,” and “states should not give in to Amazon’s pressure tactics.”

The fight to restore safeguards for reader privacy that were eliminated by the USA Patriot Act took an important step forward last week.