Robert Kulp, co-owner of Black Dog Salvage in Roanoke, Virginia, recently submitted an opinion piece to the Roanoke Times regarding the Senate passed Marketplace Fairness Act. Kulp, who owns a brick and mortar store that also sells on the Internet, described the benefits that his business has seen from leveraging the online marketplace. “Our business, Black Dog Salvage, has had some success in reaching beyond our beautiful valley and commonwealth; we are finding that customers from across the country are not only coming to visit but want to buy our products online as well”, said Kulp.

However, he is concerned as to what might happen to his small business if the Senate passed Marketplace Fairness Act would be made the law of the land. “This bill, if enacted, would require our business to charge online customers their state’s sales tax; meaning we would have to charge a California customer California’s rate of 7.5 percent and a New York customer a rate of 4 percent and on and on”, explaind Kulp. “The administrative cost to facilitate the payment of each state’s particular requirements would be substantial (promised “standardization” and “special software” will not magically make all this happen for free). We could also be exposed to an out-of-state audit from states like California or New York.”

eBay Inc. opposes the Senate passed Marketplace Fairness Act and believes that small businesses should be protected from new sales tax laws that would burden American entrepreneurs. eBay Inc. has encouraged policymakers to increase the small business threshold in the bill so to provide better protection to our nation’s small businesses.

For more information on eBay Inc.’s position, please visit our issues page. To read Mr. Kulp’s article, please visit the Roanoke Times.