Close the Internet Sales Tax Loophole and Revitalize Local Economies

While the growth of the internet has allowed online retailers to eliminate overhead costs and pass savings on to consumers, these businesses enjoy an additional advantage that distorts marketplace competition. Although e-tailers are poised for a $44 billion holiday season, all of these sales remain untaxed because of a Supreme Court ruling barring state taxes on most interstate sales. As a result, state and local government revenues and the vital programs that they support are becoming road kill on the information superhighway. The president should support Dick Durbin and Mike Enzi's "Main Street Fairness Act" to revitalize local economies without raising taxes or creating a new tax.