Political Quotes

“I rise today in support of the Marketplace Fairness Act. This bill would level the playing field between brick and mortar retailers and their online counterparts by allowing States the right to collect sales taxes on remote Internet purchases. The current system of collecting online sales taxes puts brick and mortar retailers at a significant disadvantage. Mom-and-pop stores invest in office space, inventory, and hire salespeople in order to provide service to their customers. Increasingly, those efforts are falling victim to a practice known as show rooming, where potential customers enter the physical store, take up the salesperson's time, then make their purchases at home online at a discount because no sales tax is collected. I have witnessed this firsthand. Imagine you are in the women's shoe department of a nice retail store. An attentive salesperson spends a considerable amount of time with a potential customer finding the right size, trying several pairs of shoes, and answering the customer's questions. Then the customer pulls out their phone and orders the same pair of shoes online at a lower price, in effect bilking the salesperson for the time spent with the customer. Some people are brazen about doing this. Effectively, brick and mortar retailers are providing services to online retailers at no charge. This bill simply brings State sales and use tax collection into the 21st century.…”