As you have probably read, John Boehner recently decided to resign from his position as Speaker of the House of Representatives.  Former Vice Presidential candidate and Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Paul Ryan (R-WI/1), will be the new Speaker.  This is a significant development in the sales tax fight, since the Speaker has the ability to control what legislation is considered on the floor.  In fact, if not for Speaker Boehner’s decision to block the Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA) at the end of last year, it could be law today.  Speaker Ryan’s position on the MFA is less clear.  In an interview after the Senate vote in 2013, he stated that “the concept is right [to require online retailers to pay state sales tax]” but added that the Marketplace Fairness Ant (MFA) was not “written in a tight enough way” to address certain concerns raised with the bill. 

Speaker Ryan does not have a known position on the Remote Transactions Parity Act (RTPA).  As you may know, the RTPA – introduced by Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT/3) – is actually far worse for small online retailers than the MFA.  Like the MFA, the RTPA has a very small exemption for sellers with gross sales under $1MM.  However, any business that uses an electronic marketplace (like eBay) is automatically disqualified from this already tiny exemption.  The RTPA continues to slowly build momentum (54 cosponsors), driven primarily by aggressive pleas from home state officials and brick and mortar retailers.  That is why it is critical for you to continue to remind your Member of Congress of the harmful effects of the RTPA and the MFA!  

Tell Congress not to pass the Remote Transactions Parity Act

eBay continues to support House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA/6) and his very well thought out seven basic principles related to the collection of Internet sales taxes. The Chairman’s principles are an attempt to resolve the fundamental problems with the MFA – and now the RTPA.  As Chairman Goodlatte himself recently said, Congress should “not allow a state to reach out and regulate a business outside of its jurisdiction.”