Vote on Sales Tax Fairness Set for May 6

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version

The U.S. Senate has scheduled a vote on the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 (S.743/S.336) for Monday, May 6. The Marketplace Fairness Act would give states the right to require remote retailers that do $1 million or more in gross remote sales per year to collect and remit sales tax.

Earlier this week, ABA CEO Oren Teicher e-mailed bookstore members to urge them to reach out to their Senators one more time. Teicher noted, “[O]pponents of the bill have already ramped up their efforts to stop the Act from passing the Senate,” and “will use the upcoming week to inundate the Senate with calls and e-mails demanding that they vote ‘No’ on S.743.”

ABA is urging booksellers to call their senators in support of the Marketplace Fairness Act, especially if their senators voted “No” on the April 25 cloture vote. (For the cloture roll call, click here.). Booksellers can contact their senators using a hotline created by the Alliance for Main Street Fairness: (855) 808-2387.  Or, they can find their senators’ local district phone number here.

“We know you are extremely busy,” Teicher stressed, “but communications from you — a constituent and a local business owner — can make a significant difference in moving the Marketplace Fairness Act forward.”

If S.743 passes the Senate, the bill will head to the U.S. House of Representatives, where passage is expected to be an uphill battle.

Booksellers with any questions or who need more information should e-mail David Grogan, ABA senior public policy analyst.