The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing today on the issue of collection of sales taxes from remote retailers.  During the hearing, Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) came across as supportive of authorizing the collection of all sales taxes.  In addition, Smith’s questions were generally framed so as to create a record that the collection of sales taxes from remote retailers would not be a new tax.

Several bills have been introduced that would authorize the collection of sales taxes from remote retailers.  In the Senate, Senators Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) have authored a bill (S 1832) that would authorize the collection of sales taxes from remote retailers.  The Enzi-Durbin measure is notable in that it would make not participation in the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP) a condition for the authority to collect sales taxes from remote retailers.

Several other Committee members, including Committee Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI), Representative Mike Pence (R-IN) and Representative Ted Poe (R-TX) spoke favorably about the collection of sales taxes from all retailers.  In addition, Texas State Representative John Otto (R-Dayton) gave thoughtful and informative testimony in support of HR 3179, a House bill that is similar to S 1832.  (Local government organizations have raised concerns about HR 3179 because they fear it would leave out local sales taxes.)  Otto’s testimony and the testimony of the other witnesses are on the Judiciary Committee website at: http://1.usa.gov/vX3LYD.