Enzi, Others Reintroduce Marketplace Fairness Act; R Street Institute Slams It
The Marketplace Fairness Act was reintroduced in the Senate Tuesday by the same sponsors as last year’s Marketplace and Internet Tax Fairness Act (S-2609): Sens. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said a…
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joint news release. Enzi introduced the MFA in 2013, which later passed the Senate 69-27. The bill would let states tax remote sellers with annual revenue exceeding $1 million. The bill is "identical" to its 2013 counterpart, with the exception of an amendment that would require states to delay the enactment of MFA for 180 days after its approval, plus an exemption for the"first Holiday shopping season" after passage, said an Enzi spokesman. He didn't clarify which season. MFA critics have said the bill has been a thorn in the side of the Internet Tax Freedom Act, which would permanently bar Internet access taxes (see 1409230083). House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., reintroduced the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act (HR-235) Jan. 11 (see 1501090042). MFA was a “bad bill in the last Congress and it’s still a bad bill now,” R Street Institute Executive Director Andrew Moylan said in a news release Wednesday. “By wiping away geographic limits to state tax authority, the legislation would impose serious burdens on Internet retail and undermine basic tax policy principles.” Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Angus King, I-Maine, also signed on as MFA co-sponsors, the joint release said.