| 1 | House Memorial |
| 2 | A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging |
| 3 | Congress to enact legislation to authorize states that |
| 4 | have complied with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax |
| 5 | Agreement to require out-of-state sellers to collect each |
| 6 | such state's sales and use tax. |
| 7 |
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| 8 | WHEREAS, the opinions of the United States Supreme Court in |
| 9 | the 1967 National Bellas Hess decision and the 1992 Quill |
| 10 | decision denied the several states the present authority to |
| 11 | require the collection of sales and use tax on the sale of goods |
| 12 | by out-of-state sellers that have no physical presence in the |
| 13 | taxing state, and |
| 14 | WHEREAS, those opinions of the United States Supreme Court |
| 15 | do acknowledge that Congress may confer upon the several states |
| 16 | the authority to require out-of-state sellers to collect sales |
| 17 | and use tax on these remote sales, and |
| 18 | WHEREAS, the present lack of state authority threatens the |
| 19 | continued ability of states that are dependent on such revenue |
| 20 | to rely on sales and use taxes as a stable revenue source for |
| 21 | state and local governments, and |
| 22 | WHEREAS, estimated state revenues lost as a result of the |
| 23 | lack of such authority may have been as much as $16.1 billion in |
| 24 | 2003 and such losses are expected to continue to climb, and |
| 25 | WHEREAS, this estimated revenue loss may have cost Florida |
| 26 | hundreds of millions of dollars a year in lost tax revenue, and |
| 27 | WHEREAS, local Florida retailers who make sales at their |
| 28 | Florida stores experience a tax inequity under the de facto |
| 29 | sales tax exemption for Internet and mail order sales because |
| 30 | these traditional "bricks and mortar" businesses must apply and |
| 31 | collect sales tax while out-of-state sellers having no physical |
| 32 | presence in this state need not, and |
| 33 | WHEREAS, there exists an unfair "digital divide" under |
| 34 | which higher-income households, which are much more likely to |
| 35 | have the resources to own a computer, have Internet access and a |
| 36 | credit card to make de facto exempt, remote purchases, while |
| 37 | low-income consumers without the resources to shop online or by |
| 38 | mail, and who are consigned to shopping in local stores, bear |
| 39 | more than their fair share of state sales tax, and |
| 40 | WHEREAS, since 1999, state legislators, governors, local |
| 41 | elected officials, state tax administrators, and representatives |
| 42 | of the private sector have worked to develop a Streamlined Sales |
| 43 | and Use Tax Collection System for the 21st Century, and |
| 44 | WHEREAS, between 2001 and 2002, 35 states, including |
| 45 | Florida, enacted legislation expressing the intent of the state |
| 46 | to simplify the states' sales and use tax collection systems and |
| 47 | to participate in multistate discussions to finalize and ratify |
| 48 | an interstate agreement to streamline the collection of state |
| 49 | sales and use taxes, and |
| 50 | WHEREAS, on November 12, 2002, these states unanimously |
| 51 | ratified the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, which |
| 52 | substantially simplifies state and local sales tax systems, |
| 53 | removes the burdens to interstate commerce which were of concern |
| 54 | to the Supreme Court, and protects state sovereignty, and |
| 55 | WHEREAS, the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement |
| 56 | provides the states with a blueprint to create a simplified |
| 57 | sales and use tax collection system that, when implemented, |
| 58 | allows justification for Congress to overturn the Bellas Hess |
| 59 | and Quill decisions under its federal Commerce Clause powers, |
| 60 | and |
| 61 | WHEREAS, by July 1, 2004, 21 states representing more than |
| 62 | 35 percent of the total population of the United States had |
| 63 | enacted legislation to bring their states' sales and use tax |
| 64 | statutes into compliance with the agreement, and |
| 65 | WHEREAS, Florida is resolved to address the complexities of |
| 66 | the current sales and use tax collection system, and |
| 67 | WHEREAS, the Sales Tax Fairness and Simplification Act, |
| 68 | filed as S.34 by Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming and H.R.3396 by |
| 69 | Representative William Delahunt of Massachusetts, was introduced |
| 70 | in the 110th Congress to grant those states that comply with the |
| 71 | agreement the authority to require all sellers, regardless of |
| 72 | whether they have physical presence in the taxing state, to |
| 73 | collect those states' sales and use taxes, and |
| 74 | WHEREAS, Congressman Roy Blunt of Missouri has termed this |
| 75 | federal legislation to be "fiscal relief for the states that |
| 76 | does not cost the Federal Government a single cent" and ensures |
| 77 | the viability of the sales and use tax as a state revenue |
| 78 | source, NOW, THEREFORE, |
| 79 |
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| 80 | Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 81 |
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| 82 | That the Congress of the United States is urged to enact |
| 83 | legislation to give states that have complied with the |
| 84 | Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement the authority to require |
| 85 | out-of-state sellers to collect their sales and use tax. |
| 86 | BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be |
| 87 | dispatched to the President of the United States, to the |
| 88 | President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the |
| 89 | United States House of Representatives, and to each member of |
| 90 | the Florida delegation to the United States Congress. |