Sales Tax Initiative

On September 25, Annell Gerson, co-owner of Bookmiser in Roswell, Georgia, joined with four other retailers to meet with Congressman Tom Price in support of e-fairness legislation. The face-to-face meeting is one of many being arranged by the Marketplace Fairness Coalition.
 

Congress to take up e-fairness post-election; Amazon to collect in Minnesota and Maryland

ABA is urging its member bookstores to help the #efairnessnow social media campaign go viral by posting campaign images on their Facebook and Twitter feeds, or, as Harvard Book Store in Cambridge did, create and post their own #efairnessnow image.

On September 17, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal published a letter calling for e-fairness from Richard Howorth, the owner of Square Books. The letter was written in response to an article that noted Mississippi is one of 10 states most reliant on sales taxes as a share of revenue.

ABA is urging booksellers to help make a new social media campaign go viral. The campaign #efairnessnow was launched last week by Advocates for Independent Business.

ICSC poll finds support for e-fairness at all-time high; Chase and Google to award small business grants; Study analyzes reading habits of Millennials; Man Booker Prize shortlist revealed; Neil Gaiman to present lifetime achievement award to Ursula Le Guin; Ellen Chodosh named director of NYU Press

Barnes & Noble has joined the American Booksellers Association in supporting sales tax fairness by urging Congress not to delay in passing e-fairness legislation in the closing weeks of this legislative session.

On July 29 and 30, retailers from across the country, including ABA President Steve Bercu, gathered in Washington, D.C., to participate in the National Retail Federation’s Retail Advocates Summit to advocate on a number of key policy issues. 

West Virginia collects $19 million in sales tax from online retailers; NAIBA seeks Independent Bookstore Day logo; Cape Henlopen school board does away with reading list; Macmillan expands public library e-lending pilot program

On Thursday, July 17, in a letter sent to every member of the U.S. Senate, Advocates for Independent Business urged congressional support for the Marketplace and Internet Tax Fairness Act, which was introduced in the Senate on Tuesday, July 15.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge brought by the Direct Marketing Association regarding the constitutionality of a 2010 Colorado law requiring out-of-state retailers to either collect and remit sales tax for purchases made by Colorado residents or to inform their Colorado customers that they owe use tax on the purchases they have made.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee approved the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act, which places a ban on state and local taxation of Internet access. The Marketplace Fairness Coalition urged the committee to treat e-fairness with the same sense of urgency.

Booksellers are invited to set up an appointment to discuss advocacy issues with David Grogan, ABA senior public policy analyst, in the Indie Bookseller Lounge at BEA.

Booksellers looking to catch up on a range of public policy issues affecting their businesses are encouraged to set up an appointment to meet with David Grogan in the ABA Indie Bookseller Lounge at BEA.

The Alliance for Main Street Fairness “Voices of Main Street Movement” asks small business owners to leave an audio testimonial, via a dedicated toll-free phone line, explaining why the U.S. House of Representatives needs to act on sales tax fairness legislation.