From the Heartland Institute:

R Street Executive Director and Senior Fellow Andrew Moylan says MFA would make doing business more complex and expensive for small business owners and workers using the Internet to sell goods and services.

“The Marketplace Fairness Act would have a huge impact on web-based retailers, their consumers, and the Internet economy as a whole,” Moylan said. “The Internet is borderless, and giving states the power to tax outside their borders, as the MFA does, would add significant burdens on e-commerce to the detriment of businesses and individuals.”

Moylan says MFA’s name is misleading and that the legislation is actually unfair for both consumers and businesses.

“When you make a purchase in a brick-and-mortar store, [businesses] are not required to ask where you live and then forced to accurately determine, collect, and remit those tax dollars to a far-flung jurisdiction with which they may have no physical connection at all,” Moylan said. “And yet, that’s precisely what the MFA would force Internet sellers to do.”

 

Featured Publications