Marketplace Fairness Coalition Asks Boehner for MFA Support

The Marketplace Fairness Coalition (MFC) sent a letter Wednesday to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, asking that the House immediately pass the Marketplace Fairness Act (HR-684). MFA would let states tax remote sellers with yearly revenue exceeding $1 million. A Boehner spokesman said Monday that the bill won’t be addressed during the lame duck, but that the House Judiciary Committee would continue to explore the issue, media reported. He said the House and Senate should focus on passing the Internet Tax Freedom Act, which would make permanent the ban on Internet access taxes. "We're pleased to see that Speaker Boehner understands the threat that the misnamed Marketplace Fairness Act poses to small e-retailers in Ohio and across the country,” said Executive Director Phil Bond of the Web Enabled Retailers Helping Expand Retail Employment, a retail association for small businesses, in a statement Monday. “Boehner has drawn a line in the sand saying the American people come first and politicians need to keep their hands off the Internet,” said Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist in a statement Tuesday. “The rapid growth of e-commerce should benefit all sellers,” said MFC. “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.”