Florida Senate - 2009 (NP) SR 2806 By Senator Lynn 7-04784-09 20092806__ 1 Senate Resolution 2 A resolution addressed to the Congress of the United 3 States, urging the Congress to enact legislation to 4 authorize states that have complied with the 5 Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement to require 6 out-of-state sellers to collect each such state’s 7 sales and use tax. 8 9 WHEREAS, the opinions of the United States Supreme Court in 10 the 1967 National Bellas Hess decision and the 1992 Quill 11 decision denied the several states the present authority to 12 require the collection of sales and use tax on the sale of goods 13 by out-of-state sellers that have no physical presence in the 14 taxing state, and 15 WHEREAS, those opinions of the United States Supreme Court 16 do acknowledge that Congress may confer upon the several states 17 the authority to require out-of-state sellers to collect sales 18 and use tax on these remote sales, and 19 WHEREAS, the present lack of state authority threatens the 20 continued ability of states that are dependent on such revenue 21 to rely on sales and use taxes as a stable revenue source for 22 state and local governments, and 23 WHEREAS, estimated state revenues lost as a result of the 24 lack of such authority may have been as much as $ 16.1 billion 25 in 2003 and such losses are expected to continue to climb, and 26 WHEREAS, this estimated revenue loss may have cost Florida 27 hundreds of millions of dollars a year in lost tax revenue, and 28 WHEREAS, local Florida retailers who make sales at their 29 Florida stores experience a tax inequity under the de facto 30 sales tax exemption for Internet and mail order sales because 31 these traditional “bricks and mortar” businesses must apply and 32 collect sales tax while out-of-state sellers having no physical 33 presence in this state need not, and 34 WHEREAS, there exists an unfair “digital divide” under 35 which higher-income households, which are much more likely to 36 have the resources to own a computer, have Internet access and a 37 credit card to make de facto exempt, remote purchases, while 38 low-income consumers without the resources to shop online or by 39 mail, and who are consigned to shopping in local stores, bear 40 more than their fair share of state sales tax, and 41 WHEREAS, since 1999, state legislators, governors, local 42 elected officials, state tax administrators, and representatives 43 of the private sector have worked to develop a Streamlined Sales 44 and Use Tax Collection System for the 21st Century, and 45 WHEREAS, between 2001 and 2002, 35 states, including 46 Florida, enacted legislation expressing the intent of the state 47 to simplify the states’ sales and use tax collection systems and 48 to participate in multistate discussions to finalize and ratify 49 an interstate agreement to streamline the collection of state 50 sales and use taxes, and 51 WHEREAS, on November 12, 2002, these states unanimously 52 ratified the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, which 53 substantially simplifies state and local sales tax systems, 54 removes the burdens to interstate commerce that were of concern 55 to the Supreme Court, and protects state sovereignty, and 56 WHEREAS, the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement 57 provides the states with a blueprint to create a simplified 58 sales and use tax collection system that, when implemented, 59 allows justification for Congress to overturn the Bellas Hess 60 and Quill decisions under its federal Commerce Clause powers, 61 and 62 WHEREAS, by July 1, 2004, 21 states representing more than 63 35 percent of the total population of the United States had 64 enacted legislation to bring their states’ sales and use tax 65 statutes into compliance with the agreement, and 66 WHEREAS, Florida is resolved to address the complexities of 67 the current sales and use tax collection system, and 68 WHEREAS, the Sales Tax Fairness and Simplification Act, 69 S.2152 by Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming and the Streamlined Sales 70 Tax Simplification Act, S.2153 by Senator Byron Dorgan of North 71 Dakota, were introduced in the last session of Congress to grant 72 those states that comply with the agreement the authority to 73 require all sellers, regardless of whether they have physical 74 presence in the taxing state, to collect those states’ sales and 75 use taxes, and 76 WHEREAS, the House Majority Whip, Congressman Roy Blunt of 77 Missouri, has termed this federal legislation to be “fiscal 78 relief for the states that does not cost the federal government 79 a single cent” and ensures the viability of the sales and use 80 tax as a state revenue source, NOW, THEREFORE, 81 82 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida: 83 84 That the Senate urges the United States Congress to enact 85 legislation to give states that have complied with the 86 Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement the authority to require 87 out-of-state sellers to collect their sales and use tax. 88 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with 89 the Seal of the Senate affixed, be transmitted to the Speaker of 90 the United States House of Representatives, the President of the 91 United States Senate, and each member of the Florida 92 congressional delegation.