The Marketplace Fairness Act

The Marketplace Fairness Act

One of the many perks of online shopping, the lack of online sales tax, may soon be a thing of the past as the Marketplace Fairness Act, an official Senate Bill, is on its way to the House of Representatives. As of 1992, online retailers have only been required to collect sales tax from consumers that live in the state where the online store has a “physical presence”. However, tension was slowly mounting as smaller businesses tried to keep up with the many perks the online world offered.

Retailers on the web slowly began to push that little edge, and allowed cheaper prices for the same product. Physical stores eventually caught onto the new trend, realizing that they had become showrooms for consumers who would end up leaving the store to buy the same product online.

The only thing slowing online shopping then was the shipping. Most would offer free shipping as a way to rope in new buyers; but people that really want something, have to have it right away, right? Nothing beats having your purchase in your hand right away. That was, until the start of the same day or next day shipping guarantee. That was the last push that gave small businesses all of the evidence they needed to argue the clear advantage online retailers possessed. They questioned how online retailers successfully carried out those guarantees without in-state affiliates. The bill easily passed with a vote of 69 to 27, getting support from both the Democrat and Republican parties. While large corporations and the average customer may not be affected much, this could mean a big loss for online retailers.

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