As the owner of a small e-commerce business that employs several local citizens, may I offer a perspective different from that of the column “Congress should pass e-fairness legislation” ? It stated: “E-fairness simply means all businesses … should be treated equally” in offering a positive view of the proposed Marketplace Fairness Act taxing interstate Internet transactions.

The proposed legislation is anything but “fair”: It would force me to collect and remit taxes to more than 9,000 tax jurisdictions. Online retail giants have the resources to easily comply with this burden; small businesses do not. This will suppress online retail entrepreneurship, impairing innovation, jobs and economic growth.

Let’s be honest about this legislation: It has nothing to do with “fairness” but is motivated by government’s desperation to take in still more tax revenue to plug deficits created by irresponsible spending. Proponents of the bill prop up local brick-and mortar-retailers as poster children in a deceptive attempt to gain emotional support for what is simply another tax on consumers.

Tom Baxter

Pine

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