Justin Vélez-Hagan, Executive Director of the National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce,  recently expressed his opposition to the Marketplace Fairness Act in an article in The Hill. In the article, Hagan argued that more taxes and regulations, especially within a prosperous sector like the Internet, will not be beneficial to the economy, nor its millions of small businesses and employees. Although the Senate passed the Marketplace Fairness Act in May of 2013, the House of Representatives refused to take up the bill. House leaders were concerned with how the bill would impact tech-enabled small businesses and their contribution to the U.S. economy. However, as Congress draws to a close, Senate leaders are trying to pass the bill again and force the House to take it up.

“Why are so many passionately concerned about the Internet in the first place? Not only does everyone, from my two-year-old daughter to nursing home octogenarians, have a Facebook page, but the Internet has become a prominent economic driver that no one could have anticipated”, explained Hagan. “Even today, billions are poured annually into investments related to the Internet and millions are employed because of it. Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that one of the few sectors of the economy that D.C. hasn’t infiltrated has also proven to produce the most equitable opportunities for low-income and minority households in the U.S.”

Hagan continued by expressing his belief that legislators and politicians are concerned about one thing…..more revenue.“They want government revenues to fulfill their policy objectives regardless of the economic impact. To do so, they’ve conjured a number of creative ideas, including the Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA), which would force out-of-state online retailers to collect taxes from a state’s citizens, and return it to state governments where the purchases were made”, wrote Hagan. “Imagine you are a small online retailer that potentially has to remit taxes to the 45 states that currently have sales taxes. Even with snazzy new software the economic burden on up to 3.5 million retailers will be substantial.”

eBay Inc. believes that the Marketplace Fairness Act, as currently written, would place undue burden on tech-enabled small businesses all across the country. We oppose this bill and, if you agree, let Congress know that this bill has no place in the lame duck session of Congress.