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Local Voices

Letter to the Editor- State Tax Law

In the 40 years that our company ACityDiscount has been in operation we have had to weather some rough storms.  The upcoming Marketplace Fairness Act could be the most devastating that we have seen yet. 

We have always been a family business since my father, a WWII veteran, opened our doors in Atlanta in 1973.  We try and keep those values present throughout our company, taking care of our employees and their families in addition to our community.  However, if this piece of legislation passes, we are in serious danger of losing some of our extended family.  During the last couple years my business has grown at an annual rate of 25%, but I worry that the implementation of an online sales tax could halt growth all together. 

This bill would force us to spend a wealth of extra time and money managing 9,600 different and fluctuating sales tax rates when in actuality a law is already on the books.  It is my belief that if the individual states were to focus on getting their residents to abide by the law that says they should pay tax on purchases outside of the state, it would encourage purchasing within ones home state.  This would bolster the local economy and provide the government with the revenue they feel they are losing. 

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Some of the main advocates of this bill are operating under the pretext that this is a fairness act that levels the playing field for brick-and-mortar businesses. As a businessman who has owned a retail location in our local area I think this argument is a ruse.   The ones that are saying this are big box retailers that have the resources capable of easily adapting to this legislation, better than small businesses like ours.  Congress needs to consider the fact that we will lose business to these large companies, and in turn lose our profits, and then our employees who depend on us.  This bill is simply a job killer. 

Don’t believe the myths that are associated with this Internet sales tax.  They claim that magical software will be released that will fix all compliance issues with managing 9,600 sales tax rates.  In reality the software will be expensive to implement on margins that are already dangerously low. Regardless of what the proponents of this bill will tell you, small business America and mom and pop stores will be the ones that suffer.

Find out what's happening in Lilburn-Mountain Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

John Stack
President / CEO, ACityDiscount
6286 Dawson Blvd.
Norcross, GA 30093
404-752-6715 ext 116

www.acitydiscount.com




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