As part of the on-going discussions on the Shared Federal Framework, Councilman Carrigan requested the City Council have an opportunity to discuss and take a position on the Marketplace Fairness Act. The Act represents legislation that the Shared Federal Framework Team is supporting. The Marketplace Fairness Act grants states the authority to compel online and catalog retailers, no matter where they are located, to collect sales at the time of transaction.

The House introduced a Marketplace Fairness Act in February 2013. It was introduced a second time in the Senate in April 2013 and passed the Senate with bipartisan support on May 6, 2013. In September, the House Judiciary Committee released its principles on Internet Sales Tax. These principles vary somewhat from the current bipartisan bill. There is a chance that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) will hold hearings on the idea this fall or early 2014. There is a possibility that this legislation could see action in the House next year, but the outlook is unclear at this time. In Nevada, the State’s department of taxation is currently set up to take in sales tax receipts from the internet sales.

According to the Wall Street Journal on August 24, 2012, “Amazon.com has agreed to collect a sales tax on items sold in Nevada beginning in 2014, or earlier should proposed federal legislation mandate that online retailers collect sales taxes. The online retailing giant said it will collect taxes in the same manner as traditional brick-and-mortar retailers, an agreement that is expected to raise at least $16 million a year for the state, according to the Las Vegas Sun, which initially reported the news. Like many online retailers, Amazon has said it is obliged to add state and local sales taxes only on purchases from residents of states where Amazon has physical retail operations. But it also has defined retailing narrowly as selling, so related operations such as warehouses don't put it on the hook to charge tax, the company contends.”

According to the National League of Cities, uncollected taxes from Nevada on all remote sales in 2012 equaled $344,923,618. Both the National and Nevada League of Cities have formally taken a position of support for the Marketplace Fairness Act. Also, a recent report from HIS Global found that Washoe County lost about $2.7 million is 2011, $3 million in 2012, and $3.5 million in 2013 that could have been collected due to e-commerce.