Unbeknownst to most Floridians, current state law requires individual consumers to remit sales taxes for the purchases they make online. A sale is a sale. Whether it’s made online or on Main Street, a sale is made, a transaction has occurred and the sales tax is owed. The same rules should apply online that apply on Main Street. It’s a matter of fairness and common sense.
Small businesses drive our economy. They are invested in our communities. They employ our neighbors. And they serve as the cornerstone of our Main Street marketplace. When out-of-state internet giants get special tax treatment, Florida’s Main Street merchants get punished for living, working and investing in Florida. If these small businesses are unable to compete on a level playing field, Florida can expect to see more job loss and long-term damage to our state’s economy and business climate.
As a member of the Florida Alliance for Main Street Fairness, the Florida Chamber supports closing the loophole, not raising taxes. Don’t raise taxes—or invent new ones—instead, close the Internet Sales Tax Loophole and help close Florida’s budget deficit.
The Florida Chamber’s message is simple:
According to estimates, for every 10 percent of internet-only retail sales returned to Florida retailers (either through an internet sale or a sale at a physical store), total Florida retail sales will increase by between $2.8 billion and $3.1 billion by 2020 with an expected impact of 8,300 to 9,200 additional jobs.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce supports fairness and equity in Florida’s tax system and discourages government to be in the role of determining winners and losers through unfair and inconsistent tax policy.
E-Fairness: Level the Playing Field for Small Business (SB 1514/HB 861)
Leveling the playing field for small businesses by closing a loophole that gives out-of-state online retailers an advantage over Florida businesses would have put the state of Florida out of the business of choosing free enterprise winners and losers. Passage of SB 1514 by Sen. Nancy Deter (R-Venice) and HB 861 by Rep. Mike Horner (R-Kissimmee) would have eliminated online only retailers 6.5 percent advantage.
Florida has already been contributing to Amazon.com’s dominance and the demise of true market competition. State leaders’ refusal to modernize the state sales tax system and demand payment from Internet-only retailers has put Florida retailers at a disadvantage for more than a decade.
An influential state Senate committee looked past a short-term crisis Thursday to try to fix one of Florida’s systemic problems. The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee embraced a plan that would require most Internet vendors selling to Floridians to collect and remit sales taxes — finally eliminating a huge disadvantage faced by traditional Florida retailers. [...]
The Florida Chamber of Commerce supports leveling the playing field for Florida’s small businesses and retailers by closing the internet sales tax loophole. When internet-only retailers do not collect sales taxes, Florida businesses are put at an automatic 6.5% competitive disadvantage. A Florida Chamber-backed e-fairness bill passed the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee with an [...]
