I’ve been following and reporting on Federal “Internet Sales Tax” developments for quite some time now – actually, almost three years! The first post I wrote on Federal Internet Sales Tax developments was back in July of 2010, shortly after a federal proposal was introduced by the 111th Congress. (That was two Congresses ago, folks!) The post, which I authored for SMB resource website, AllBusiness.com, and also published here at The State and Local Tax “Buzz”, covered a 2010 version of The Main Street Fairness Act (H. 5560, 111th Cong.). You can read that very first post here -> “The Main Street Fairness Act: Explaining Internet Sales Taxes”.
But my coverage of Internet Sales Tax developments really took off when I was asked to become a regular contributor to a newly launched multi-contributor blog for SalesTaxSupport.com, an on-line sales-use tax resource website. I announced that I’d be joining SalesTaxSupport’s blogging crew here at The State and Local Tax “Buzz” in a June 24, 2011 post, “E-Commerce/Internet Sales Tax, An Important Topic for Today’s Business”.
And, boy, has this turned out to be an important topic – and one that I’m genuinely passionate about! So, in the past three years I’ve written blog posts on every single Federal Internet Tax proposal introduced!
And during the last Congressional session (the 112th Congress, 2011-2012), when three separate Federal Internet Sales Tax proposals were introduced, I not only covered the specifics of each proposal, I wrote posts comparing them to each other, posts on Congressional hearings where the proposals were debated, posts on internet retailer’s concerns on how the proposals would impact them, posts on last minute efforts to see a federal proposal passed, and a plain English whitepaper for small-medium e-Commerce businesses. And when all was said and done, and all three of the proposals introduced by the 112thCongress failed to pass, I wrote a post on the Dysfunctional 112thCongress and another post on my predictions for 2013. (My main prediction? That new legislation would be introduced early in 2013 – which is exactly what happened.)
Now, if you’ve read my Federal Internet Sales Tax posts (or actually, any of my posts on any topic), you’ll understand why I often refer to them as blog articles. You see, I’m a woman of many words – and I hate glossing over provisions and issues that I think are important. So my goal is always to provide in-depth information – and I do this because I genuinely love to write and share what I know about the topic.
So I decided that I’d create a web-page here at The State and Local Tax “Buzz” that would list and link to my many written contributions on Federal Internet Sales Tax developments, as much for myself (so that I have a quick way to retrieve and link to my blog articles), but also for the benefit of my readers who are as passionate about this topic as I am. You can see my “Federal Internet Sales Tax Posts” by clicking the web-page title I just noted, the web-page tab in the tab section above (the tab after “Publications and Presentations” and before the “Contributions to Other Sites”), or by clicking here. Once you’re on that web-page, you can link to any of the blog articles I’ve written by clicking on the post title. (The article should open as a new page on the site where the article is published.) On this new web-page, I’ve also included some select quotes and comments I provided to other reporters for their Federal Internet Sales Tax articles.
And if you’re looking for some recent blog contributions on last week’s passage by the Senate of S. 743, the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013, well I’ve got those also! In the past week, I’ve written not just one, but two blog articles on this development.
- The first I wrote on May 10thfor SalesTaxSupport.com’s Sales-Use Tax Issues, Insights and Ideas blog where I serve as the Internet Sales Tax contributor. The post, “Marketplace Fairness Act: The Issues No One is Talking About” provides an update on the May 6th Senate vote, but more importantly highlights several issues that aren’t receiving the attention they should.
- The second post I wrote on May 12thfor AllBusiness.com, a small business website where I blog on a variety of tax and business issues. That post, “The Marketplace Fairness Act: What All SMBs (Not Just Internet Retailers) Need to Know”, is a primer on the proposal – what it will require of states, the small seller exemption, etc. – written for the small-medium business audience. As the title implies, I also highlight that the proposal will impact more than just internet retailers.
I invite you to read both of my new contributions which you can access by clicking the post title above or at my new Federal Internet Sales Tax Posts web page.
And one last point. Are you an iShade member? If so, then you’re probably already aware that tomorrow, March 15th, I’ll be presenting on an iShade “Ask the Expert” session – “The Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 – Get Ready for Internet Sales Taxes” (Here’s iShade’s Press Release announcing the session). The ATE will begin with a one-hour Webinar where I’ll discuss sales tax nexus, why internet retailers aren’t currently required to collect sales tax in many states, State Amazon Laws, but most importantly the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 – what it will require states to do, its journey in Congress thus far, how it defines an exempt small seller, how it will impact more than just internet retailers and what CPAs and advisors need to know. Following the one hour Webinar, I’ll transition to a live 30 minute Q&A session where iShade members can pose their follow-up questions. You can register for the iShade session here.
With last week’s passage of S. 743 by the Senate, this is a hotter topic than ever! You can bet I’ll continue to report on new developments. And as I author new blog posts or articles, or offer new quotes, I’ll update my Federal Internet Sales Tax Posts web page. So stick with me – there’s much more to come!
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