Boehner Says Online Sales Tax Won’t Pass This Year

If House Speaker John Boehner gets his way, the online sales tax bill is dead.

“The Speaker has made clear in the past he has significant concerns about the bill, and it won’t move forward this year,” said Boehner’s spokesman, Kevin Smith, in a statement last week. “The Judiciary Committee continues to examine the measure and the broader issue. In the meantime, the House and Senate should work together to extend the moratorium on Internet taxation without further delay.”

The Marketplace Fairness Act would allow states to collect sales tax on online sales from out-of-state ecommerce retailers.

Industry groups representing brick-and-mortar sellers have lobbied heavily in favor of the bill, which they say would put online retailers on even footing by having the same sales tax onus as their members. Currently, consumers are supposed to claim and file sales tax on their online purchases, but apparently few actually do.

In a letter to Boehner, the Marketplace Fairness Coalition, which includes national as well as state and local industry groups, urged the Speaker to reconsider, writing:

The rapid growth of e-Commerce should benefit all sellers. The status quo, however, affords special treatment to “remote sellers”, thereby distorting the marketplace and hindering the ability of many local brick-and-mortar businesses to compete. . . . It is time to level the playing field for all merchants.”

The bill passed in the Senate with bi-partisan support in 2013, but has since languished in the House Judiciary Committee. Proponents of the bill are looking to the upcoming lame-duck session, Congressional Quarterly Roll Call has reported.

Not all ecommerce companies are fighting the bill. Amazon came around to strongly support it as it adds distribution centers in more states.