There were very few people who thought the Marketplace Fairness Act, passed with 69 votes in the Senate in 2013 but never acted on by the House, had any chance of being revived when Republicans won majorities in Congress in last November's elections. While the future is unclear, groups including the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) are throwing their support behind the reintroduction of the act by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL).
"Retailers should be allowed to compete for customers and sales on price, service and selection and not forced to compete on whether or not they collect state and local sales tax," said David French, NRF's senior vice president for government relations, in a statement.
The reintroduction of the Marketplace Fairness Act is well timed, said Mr. French, because it "comes on the heels of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's admission last week that the Court got it wrong on sales tax collection two decades ago and should revisit its decision."
"Ending the special tax treatment afforded to online-only retailers has been a top legislative priority for the retail industry, and it's time to finish the job in 2015," said Joe Rinzel, senior vice president for government affairs at RILA, in a statement. "All retailers deserve a fair shot to compete in the free market without the government's thumb on the scale."
In a RetailWire poll last November, 75 percent said it was unlikely that sales tax fairness legislation would be passed in the current Congress.