The Internet Sales Tax Will Kill My Small Business

by Catesby Jones, Heritage Foundation June 4, 2013

I own a small business in Virginia called Peace Frogs. My three dozen employees and I make T-shirts and other cool stuff. We’re a positive company that loves being able to do all our work from Gloucester, VA, where I grew up.

What makes it possible is the Internet. By reaching out to a worldwide base of customers, companies in rural parts like ours can thrive and have a much bigger presence than they otherwise would through traditional sales.

This is why I’m incredibly concerned about the Internet sales tax that’s being debated in Washington.

It’s an attack on small businesses like mine. If you look at who’s lining up for and against the misnamed Marketplace Fairness Act, mostly large corporations are beating up on us small guys. They have the lobbyists, they have the muscle, and they have what it takes to impose burdensome regulations on online entrepreneurs.

We don’t have the same access to Washington.

I’ve spoken out against this threat and recently shared my story with Heritage. They visited our warehouse and I explained how the Internet sales tax would harm my growing business.

The Internet offers the best opportunity for Gloucester natives to come home and operate a business. There aren’t many other enterprise vehicles that allow this type of flexible marketplace. But an Internet sales tax would threaten the well-being of my family and my employees’ families and result in higher costs for my customers.

Proponents of the Internet sales tax want to make me a tax collector for 9,646 tax jurisdictions. Their misguided efforts could make Peace Frogs at risk for audits by 46 states, the District of Columbia and countless other U.S. territories.

We need as much help as we can get to educate Americans about this.

Thanks so much for reading my note. If you wouldn’t mind, please share this video with your friends and family.

Live Fun, Do Good.

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