Forbes recently published an opinion piece by Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice, a trade association of eCommerce businesses and online consumers. NetChoice and its members have been vocal opponents of the Marketplace Fairness Act. In his opinion piece, DelBianco explained how close supporters of the Marketplace Fairness Act came to passing the bill this holiday season.

“As you break out your credit cards this holiday season, you might not know how close we came to a law that would have put Internet retailers and their customers at a permanent disadvantage. Luckily, two Congressional leaders protected us from a radical new tax regime for online purchases”, wrote DelBianco. “All that stood between the bill and the President’s pen were timely interventions from Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas)—who called out fellow Senate republicans for backroom deals with Democrats on the bill—and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)—who said the House would not consider the MFA this year.”

DelBianco continued by highlighting the impact this legislation would have had on tech-enabled businesses if passed this Congress. “Under current law, retailers—both online and off—are required to collect sales taxes in every state where they have a physical presence. That way, a retailer’s sales tax burdens scale-up gradually as they add locations in new states. By the time a company is legally required to remit sales tax to thousands of tax jurisdictions nationwide, it is large enough to afford the compliance burdens”, explained DelBianco. “The MFA legislation would have turned that equation on its head, forcing single-location, family-run businesses that are only a fraction of Amazon’s size to follow thousands of jurisdictions and face audits from 46 state tax authorities.”

eBay Inc. opposed the Marketplace Fairness Act and repeatedly called on Congress to find a solution that would not impact small tech-enabled businesses. Learn more by reading about eBay Inc.’s position on the legislation.