The Commission sent a letter to U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chair Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., on his draft hybrid origin-sourcing alternative to the Marketplace Fairness Act. The Chair of the Commission, Alabama Commissioner of Revnue Julie Magee, highlighted significant problems with the draft bill, which hasn’t been introduced yet but has been circulated for comments.
The letter elaborates on four fundamental problems with Goodlatte’s proposal —
- For some taxpayers, the bill amounts to the federal imposition of a new state tax, set at rates that in some cases are not established by the elected representatives of the residents who will pay those taxes.
- States that might choose not to participate will be disadvantaged in a way that likely amounts to impermissible federal coercion.
- Allowing removal of suits involving nonmember states to federal court violates the Eleventh Amendment.
- The bill needlessly perpetuates the distinction between remote sellers and non-remote sellers at the expense of the states.
You can read a copy of the letter here.