Senate Commerce Panel To Wade Into Net Sales Tax Debate

The Senate Commerce Committee appears set next week to wade into debate over whether Congress should pass legislation authorizing states to require online retailers to collect sales taxes from their out-of-state customers. The committee is tentatively scheduled to hold a hearing on Aug. 1 that would examine calls for legislation that would close a loophole left from a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that found states cannot require retailers to collect sales taxes from customers in states where those companies have no store or other physical facility, a committee aide said Tuesday. The ruling applied to catalog retailers at the time but has since been exploited by online stores.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that he would try to bring up the measure once it had the needed support. Sen Reid said the proposal, from Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), did not have the necessary 60 votes yet. But, he added, “I have told them the minute we get 60 votes, I will be happy to do everything I can to get that matter on the floor.”