Internet Tax Wars: Big vs. Small

A look at the week of August 21 in public advocacy for the IT channel: Large retail chains like Walmart and Amazon are fighting to make sure that small businesses are taxed as much as they are under future online tax legislation, says the Philadelphia Inquirer. Small business owners were less optimistic about their future sales and growth in July, says The Hill. Republican senators are still debating the merits and details of online sales tax legislation, says the Daily Caller.

Internet Tax Wars: Big vs small; Amazon vs. eBay – Large retail chains like Walmart and Amazon are fighting to make sure that small businesses are taxed as much as they are under future online tax legislation, says the Philadelphia Inquirer. On the other side, eBay, which does a lot of business with small businesses, say that they should be exempt from tax burdens because they already have a higher per-unit shopping and administrative costs than larger retailers.

Small-Business Confidence Declines in July – Small business owners were less optimistic about their future sales and growth in July, says The Hill. Optimism dropped to 91.2, more than three points below February’s high for the year, according to the National Federation of Independent Business index. The small business lobby noted that the index has averaged 90 since the recession ended in 2009.

Online Sales Tax Divides Republicans – Republican senators are still debating the merits and details of online sales tax legislation, says the Daily Caller. Several Republicans are supporting the new legislation – as 14 of the 20 governors have voted in favor of the tax. “It seems to me there has to be a way to tax sales done online in the same way that sales are taxed in brick and mortar establishments,” said former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. “My guess is that there would be hundreds of millions of dollars that then could be used to reduce taxes to fulfill campaign promises.”