America's Shopping Centers Support The Marketplace And Internet Tax Fairness Act
WASHINGTON, July 16, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) applauds the introduction of The Marketplace and Internet Tax Fairness Act (MITFA) in the Senate. The bipartisan bill combines two critical legislative issues – the Marketplace Fairness Act and the Internet Tax Freedom Act.
"The shopping center industry would like to thank Senators Mike Enzi (R-WY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mark Pryor (D-AR) for their steadfast leadership on this issue and for working tirelessly to move long-overdue sales tax fairness legislation forward," said Michael P. Kercheval, president and CEO of ICSC. "This bill signals that leveling the playing field for all retailers is a top priority for Congress this year."
The Marketplace and Internet Tax Fairness Act keeps access to the Internet tax free by limiting the ability of state and local governments to impose Internet access taxes for ten years, while giving states the ability to enforce their sales tax laws on businesses selling to consumers located within their borders. It protects the ideals of a free market economy by providing tax free access to the Internet and removing what amounts to a government subsidy for online-only businesses.
"The Senate is sending a clear signal that this issue needs to be dealt with now," said Betsy Laird, senior vice president of Global Public Policy for ICSC. "Twenty-first century retail demands a 21st century solution. This is the second time in a little over a year that the Senate has proposed common-sense, bipartisan legislation to the decades-old problem that has distorted the marketplace. The time for efairness is now."
ICSC has promoted efairness for over a decade, advocating that a "sale is a sale" regardless of whether the purchase takes place on Main Street, at shopping centers, or over the Internet. For more information about efairness and how the current sales tax system is unable to support the 21st century retail marketplace please visit www.efairness.org.
About ICSC
Founded in 1957, ICSC is the premier global trade association of the shopping center industry. Its more than 67,000 members in over 100 countries include shopping center owners, developers, managers, marketing specialists, investors, retailers and brokers, as well as academics and public officials. For more information, visit www.icsc.org.
SOURCE International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
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