JA Welcomes U.S. Senate’s Marketplace and Internet Tax Fairness Act

(IDEX Online News) – Jewelers of America (JA), the national trade association for fine jewelry businesses, has welcomed the U.S. Senate’s introduction of the Marketplace and Internet Tax Fairness Act (MITFA) and supports bipartisan efforts in the Senate to push for both chambers of Congress to pass e-fairness legislation.

The association has fought hard for the legislation, which would finally close an Internet sales tax loophole that has hurt traditional jewelry businesses.

“MITFA combines two critical bills – the Marketplace Fairness Act with the Internet Tax Freedom Act – the latter of which the House passed a version of earlier this week,” said JA President and CEO, David J. Bonaparte.

“Jewelers of America applauds the efforts of 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-AK) – all longtime champions of e-fairness legislation. They are sending a message that Congress must pass sales tax fairness legislation once and for all. We are hopeful that this will keep e-fairness legislation top-of-mind and lead to full passage by the end of this year.”

The Marketplace and Internet Tax Fairness Act gives states the option to require the collection of sales and use taxes already owed under state law by out-of-state businesses, rather than rely on consumers to remit those taxes to the states. Currently, brick-and-mortar businesses collect sales and use taxes from customers who make purchases in their stores, but many online and remote retailers do not.

If passed by both chambers of Congress and enacted into law, the measure would give states the option to require the collection of these taxes by out-of-state sellers if the state simplifies their sales and use tax systems. MITFA would also extend for 10 years the Internet Tax Freedom Act, which prohibits state and local taxation of Internet access and multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce.

Jewelers of America is a longtime proponent of sales tax fairness, supporting efforts to enact legislation on the federal and state levels.

Jewelers of America is also a member of the Marketplace Fairness Coalition, a group of businesses and associations that support e-fairness.

Jewelers of America leadership and its Political Action Committee, JAPAC, last month held meetings on Capitol Hill with key legislators in support of e-fairness and other issues critical to jewelers. JAPAC is the only PAC that supports the fine jewelry industry in Washington, D.C.