Last week, Ben Werlin, co-owner of Music Store Live, was interviewed by the Burlington Free Press on how the pending Internet sales tax bill in Congress would impact small businesses like his.  Music Store Live, is a perfect success story of how technology can enable small businesses in rural states like Vermont to have not only a national but a global presence.  Music Store Live, which is an online guitar shop that has gone from Werlin's house in Winooski to 8,000 square feet in South Burlington on Berard Street near Burlington International Airport.   The business was launched late in 2010 on a very limited budget and now does over $5million in business.

Although the business is flourishing and Werlin and his partners serve customers all over the world, he is concerned at what might happen to his business if the Internet sales tax bill is passed into law and he becomes a tax collector for every sales tax jurisdiction nationwide.  "That means as a retailer I'm now responsible for sending taxes to 9,000 plus different jurisdictions," Werlin said. "I get that there's a competitive challenge local retailers have with online businesses if they have to collect sales tax and the online business doesn't. My problem is the solution they've come up with is a logistical nightmare that would bury a business like ours."

eBay Inc. believes that small businesses like Music Store Live should be protected from any burdensome Internet sales tax regime and that policymakers should encourage small business growth, not hinder it.  Technology is the future of retail, not its competitor. 

To read more about Music Store Live and Ben Werlin’s concerns with the Internet sales tax bill, please visit the Burlington Free Press.  And learn more about eBay Inc.’s position on Internet sales tax.