eBay Main Street

eBay Inc.'s Tod Cohen, retailers and state legislators testified Wednesday regarding legislation allowing states to collect sales taxes for online purchases. Much of the hearing centered on the Supreme Court\'s 1992 Quill Corporation vs. North Dakota ruling that retailers with no physical presence in a state did not have to collect sales taxes for that state. Cohen advocated for a robust exemption from sales tax collection and remittance requirements on behalf of the thousands of small business retailers that use the eBay platform.

Tod Cohen, eBay Inc. Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, testified this morning before the United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary. In his remarks, Cohen outlined Constitutional limitations on U.S. states\' authority to collect sales taxes in e-commerce. Read Cohen’s congressional testimony. Referenced in today’s hearing was also a position paper by Paul Clement, partner at Bancroft PLLC and former Solicitor General of the United States. Clement’s position paper on the “Streamlined Sales Tax” legislation cites numerous constitutional concerns surrounding the proposed bills. Read Clement’s position paper.

PayPal Australia is partnering with the Australian Federal Police to ensure that Australian shoppers remain cautious and safe when shopping online this holiday season. Estimates show that the country will spend over $30.2 billion online by the end of 2011. “This Christmas, Australians will be taking advantage of the huge range of unique gift ideas on offer, not only from well-known Aussie brands, but also from thousands of smaller boutique-style retailers,” PayPal Australia Director of Strategy Andrew Rechtman said. “Over 4 million online shoppers now use PayPal, allowing them to shop without sharing their personal financial information.”

A report released this month by the Australian Communications and Media Authority found eBay Australia’s most popular online retailer.
The report titled E-Commerce Marketplace in Australia: Online Shopping, showed eBay attracted the largest audience, reaching 4.3 million people during June 2011 compared to 1.6 people visiting Amazon’s website and 1.4 million Australian visiting the website of Woolworths.

“Some in Congress have revived calls to force electronic retailers to collect sales taxes. Electronic retailers already collect sales taxes in states where they have a "physical presence," and states may collect a tax from taxpayers for online transactions if out-of-state retailers do not. But because states rarely enforce collection of this tax from individual taxpayers, big-box stores and state revenue officials are left frustrated. However, this frustration is an insufficient reason to impose unreasonable burdens on interstate commerce….” Continue reading…

From all of us at the eBay Inc. Government Relations team, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

eBay recently hosted an Oversight Hearing of the California State Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism & Internet Media. Assemblymembers Paul Fong (D-Cupertino) and Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) joined Committee Chair Assemblymember Nora Campos for a hearing on "How State Activities Can Impact the Business Climate of the High Technology Economy." David London, Senior Director, U.S. State Government Relations for eBay Inc. provided opening remarks and introduced the Chair.

TechAmerica Senior Vice President for Federal Government Affairs Kevin Richards released a statement last week in opposition to the latest string of Internet sales tax bills introduced this Congress. In his statement, Mr. Richards raised concerns about the impact of the legislation on our economy: “There is a consistent movement to simplify government regulations but further regulating online businesses seems to be popular on Capitol Hill. Congress should be focusing on how to keep this recovery going - not trying to stifle it. Simply put, this is one more wrong bill.” Visit the TechAmerica website for more information on the association and their opposition to the enactment of Internet sales tax legislation.

The following statement was released by Ed Black, President and CEO of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), upon the introduction of latest Internet sales tax bill introduced by Senators Alexander (R-TN), Durbin (D-IL) and Enzi (R-WY): “Imposing tax collection burdens on small Internet businesses, which are some of the most promising candidates for future economic growth, is unjustified, unfair and unwise. Businesses should not be penalized for utilizing technology and innovation.” Learn more about CCIA and their support of small online businesses.

Last week, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), released a statement expressing its disappointment in the introduction of yet another Internet sales tax bill that would unfairly disadvantage online retailers. “This bill, in the best of economic times, is bad policy as it interferes with the free-flow of commerce among the states, a principle upon which the United States was founded,” said DMA. “In these difficult economic circumstances, placing new, unfunded mandates on out-of-state companies to comply with complex and changing tax structures in many states around the country will hamper e-commerce, a fast growing segment in our economy”. The DMA is an association of companies and nonprofits with interests in multichannel direct marketing. Learn more about DMA and their position on Internet sales taxes.