John Feigenbaum, owner of David Lawrence Rare Coins, recently submitted a letter to the editor of Hampton Roads to express how damaging the so-called Marketplace Fairness Act would be to his business if the proposal were enacted into law.  Feigenbaum explains that it would be extremely burdensome to collect and pay taxes to thousands of ever-changing jurisdictions.  In addition, he expresses his concerns with becoming a tax collector for businesses where he doesn’t even have any physical presence.

Last week, Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) sent a letter to the leaders of the Senate Finance Committee calling for any tax reform proposal to keep the Internet free from burdensome tax requirements and restrictions, including new Internet sales taxes.  The Senate Finance Committee is in the process of determining their priorities for comprehensive tax reform this Fall and have called on Senators to express their priorities for what should and should not be included in the final reform package.

George Allen, former Governor of Virginia and U.S. Senator, recently published an op-ed in the Washington Times on why the so-called Marketplace Fairness Act disadvantages small Internet-enabled businesses and benefits their larger competitors.  Allen calls on Congress to establish policies that encourage small business growth and development and keep the Internet free from “of unfair, discriminatory taxation policies that would impede its future growth as a source of commerce”.

Tony Kornrumpf, owner of Hoops Enterprise LLC, recently submitted a letter to the Chattanoogan expressing why he thought that the so-called Marketplace Fairness Act would kill jobs and stifle small business growth and development.  As a small business owner that sells PC software and anti-virus programs, Tony operates in a very competitive marketplace and he is concerned how he will be able to compete when he will be forced to keep track of 10,000+ sales tax jurisdictions nationwide.

Josh Olivo, co-founder of ShopRuche.com, recently spoke out in an interview about the Internet sales tax legislation currently pending in Congress.  In the interview, Olivo expressed his concerns with how the new compliance costs and burdens associated with the new Internet sales tax regime would impact his small business and make him less competitive.

Legislators from Washington, Oregon and Colorado joined members of the eBay Inc. team for a tour of eBay Inc.’s Commerce Innovation Showcase this week. Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek,  Colorado House Speaker Mark Ferrandino, Washington State Senator Christine Rolfes and Washington State Representative Sam Hunt visited eBay Inc.’s Headquarters in San Jose, CA to learn more about eBay Inc.’s brands, including PayPal, StubHub, eBay Enterprise and the eBay.com site.