E-commerce

A recent study by researchers at Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business shows that remote retailers do indeed enjoy a competitive advantage by not collecting sales tax at the point of sales.

Amazon.com will be required to collect and remit sales tax in Florida beginning May 1, according to media reports this week. The requirement to collect was part of a real estate deal to build  a 1.1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Hillsborough County.

On April 14, the Colorado House of Representatives passed the Marketplace Fairness & Small Business Protection Act, a bill that would require remote retailers with nexus in the state to collect and remit sales tax on purchases made by Colorado residents.

This week, the IndieCommerce team took steps to address a recently discovered OpenSSL software problem, which has been dubbed Heartbleed. Heartbleed is likely the most severe vulnerability ever discovered in basic Internet security.

ABA recently met with the staff of six U.S. representatives on the House Committee on the Judiciary to urge them to reach a consensus in support of sales tax fairness legislation.

On  March 12, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary held a full committee hearing on the issue of sales tax fairness. The hearing focused on various ideas for collecting sales tax on remote sales not covered in the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013.

With the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary expected to hold a hearing on sales tax fairness sometime in March, ABA is urging members to show their support for this important issue by creating testimonials and meeting with their representatives at local district offices during the mid-February congressional recess.

On February 1, Amazon will begin collecting and remitting sales tax in North Carolina. The news is not only a victory for sales tax fairness proponents, but also for the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

ABA is calling on booksellers to provide either a written or video testimonial in support of federal sales tax fairness legislation, which the association will then share with the House Judiciary Committee before legislative hearings on the issue begin.

On January 7, some 300 signatories representing more than three million businesses, associations, and organizations wrote to Rep. Bob Goodlatte, chair of the House Committee on the Judiciary, calling for action on sales tax fairness legislation.

Pennsylvania House pushes Congress toward e-fairness; More consumers to finish holiday shopping online; National Book Foundation calls for Innovations in Reading nominations; Candlewick reaches out to teens through E-Volt Tumblr; Making Information Pay conference to co-locate with Digital Publishing Forum at BEA

ABA has negotiated a special rate available to all member stores currently using PayPal as well as businesses that sign up now.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to not hear a legal challenge brought by Amazon and Overstock regarding New York State’s affiliate nexus law, editorials in newspapers across the country have urged states and/or the U.S. Congress to turn sales tax fairness from an idea into a reality.

On Monday, December 2, in a resounding victory for sales tax fairness proponents, the U.S. Supreme Court said it would not hear a legal challenge to New York State’s affiliate nexus law, which was brought by Amazon.com and Overstock.com.

In a November 22 BusinessWeek op-ed, the co-chairs of Advocates for Independent Business, ASTRA’s  Kathleen McHugh and ABA’s Oren Teicher, urge the U.S. House of Representatives to consider the issue of sales tax fairness and “act swiftly to tackle it.”