Last week, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published an opinion piece from three eBay sellers which argued that the costs of complying with the Marketplace Fairness Act would make small businesses unable to compete in the marketplace. “For us, collecting and remitting sales tax for Pennsylvania alone is difficult enough”, wrote the small business owners. “There are frequently technical issues and complexities that can complicate the process. Could you imagine the time it would take for us to do this for thousands of additional jurisdictions?”

As currently written, the Marketplace Fairness Act would require small tech-enabled businesses across the country to become tax collectors for over 9,600 tax jurisdictions. For many of these businesses, they would be forced to collect taxes in states where they have no physical presence or right to vote. Although John Boehner (R-OH), Speaker of the House, has publicly said that the House would not move the Marketplace Fairness Act this Congress, Senate leadership has promised to pass the bill this holiday season. “I believe our lawmakers must recognize the negative impact this bill would have on entrepreneurs like me. The current bill would stifle innovation and make it difficult for the modern-day small business to thrive in an increasingly competitive national and international economy”, wrote the business owners. “I urge our lawmakers to visit small online retailers and observe how businesses like ours operate. They will quickly realize that this bill is not the right choice for Pennsylvania’s small businesses.”

Find more information on the Internet sales tax issue.