U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Levels the Playing Field for Wisconsin Small Businesses

Press Release

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin today voted in favor of the Marketplace Fairness Act, S. 743, which passed the Senate with bipartisan support, 69-27.

"Today, I joined a bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate in support of the Marketplace Fairness Act. This pro-growth measure will level the playing field for Wisconsin small businesses and allow local brick-and-mortar retailers to compete more effectively against out-of-state Internet sellers," Baldwin said.

The Marketplace Fairness Act provides individual states with the authority, and choice, to collect taxes on Internet and catalog sales. Currently, millions of local retailers are at a disadvantage because they are required to collect state and local taxes, while their online competitors are not. The Marketplace Fairness Act does not create any new taxes, and does not obligate any state to participate -- it simply allows each state the ability to collect taxes already owed.

The legislation protects small businesses by exempting any business that does less than $1 million in sales from collecting the tax. The measure also ensures that remote sellers have the tools they need to collect the taxes by requiring states to provide them tax software free of cost.

This legislation is supported by the National Governors Association, Amazon, and numerous labor unions, retail associations, and local governments.

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