This week, Roll Call published an opinion piece from Brandon Arnold with the National Taxpayers Union. In the article, Arnold argued that Congress should keep the Senate passed Marketplace Fairness Act off of the agenda for the lame duck session.

“The Internet sales tax issue is substantially more complicated and must be treated with careful deliberation. Congress could address this matter constructively, but one proposal in particular is so flawed it should be completely scrapped”, wrote Arnold. “The so-called “Marketplace Fairness Act” is riddled with problems that would be absolutely devastating for small businesses.”

Arnold goes on to explain that the compliance burdens that the Internet sales tax bill would place on small businesses would be substantial. “Some estimates place the cost to individual companies in the hundreds of thousands of dollars – enough to bankrupt many smaller online retailers”, said Arnold. He later calls on Congress to “pass a solution that solves the current messy patchwork of interstate nexus laws and do so without crippling commerce and adversely impacting consumers.” However, he highlights that the best time to do that is in the new Congress, not the final weeks of Congress when everyone is just wanting to go home for the holidays.

To read Arnold’s opinion piece, please visit Roll Call.