Client News
Seminole Chronicle: Internet sales tax will hinder business
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
By Erin Lang | November 20, 2012
Being a Florida small-business owner means that I am continuously cultivating the health of the company that I built from the ground up. After many long nights as a working mom, I launched the patent-pending ZIPaboo clothing line for infants and toddlers. I worked tirelessly to develop product prototypes and grow my customer base, and now I have my own online storefront that has received a promising response.
Someday, I would like to open a brick-and-mortar boutique, which would create good jobs and foster growth in the Orlando community. However, like many business owners who rely on online commerce, I am fearful because newly proposed federal legislation threatens to negatively affect my online business and constrict profits.
If the Marketplace Fairness Act and Marketplace Equity Act legislations pass, small-business owners will be faced with additional taxing regulations. The proposed bills will create an Internet sales tax that discourages expansion – and ultimately punishes customers for shopping online, giving me little hope of continued development for a physical storefront.
Proposals like these will burden businesses everywhere, in Florida and beyond state lines, discouraging creativity, innovation and expansion, which are essential tools for economic growth in the private sector. In such crucial times in America, we should be encouraging people to start businesses instead of stifling them with regulations.