NYT Editorial: Congress signals readiness to require sales tax for online retailers

NEW YORK —The New York Times Editorial Board in an editorial published Tuesday, signaled Congress may be ready to take up the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013, a bill allowing states to require online retailers to collect sales taxes.

"Under federal law, which largely predates the Internet, online retailers are required to collect sales tax only if they have a physical presence in the customer’s state,." according to the editorial. "That lets many online retailers off the hook for sales-tax collection, giving them an unfair advantage over bricks-and-mortar stores and depriving states of an estimated $11 billion in annual sales-tax revenue."

The editorial notesrecent votes in the Senate on the 2014 budget showed bipartisan support on an amendment for broader sales-tax collections on Internet purchases. Support for the amendment is not binding, but it does show the Senate's willingness to pass the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 if the bill came to the floor for a vote. The editorial states a similar bill in the House also has bipartisan support.

Click here to read the editorial in full.