Devin Wenig, president of eBay Marketplaces, said it’s inevitable that an online sales tax bill will eventually become law, but that it won’t stop his company from fighting to make it fair for small businesses.
During a keynote discussion at the ChannelAdvisor Catalyst conference April 30 in Las Vegas, Wenig said the thought of small businesses having to collect sales taxes in 9,600 jurisdictions is “mind boggling,” and that eBay is fighting for as big a sales tax exemption as possible.
“It looks like something will pass, but there’s still a question of what will pass,” Wenig said during a keynote discussion at the ChannelAdvisor Catalyst conference April 30 in Las Vegas.
In April, the U.S. Senate voted 74-23 in favor of consideration of the Marketplace Fairness Act. However, Wenig told the audience it is not too late to reach out to their representatives. eBay also has a microsite, ebaymainstreet.com, set up to assist and inform small businesses.
“Write to us, write to congress,” Wenig said. “If we continue this fight, I think we can spare a good number of small retailers.”
While eBay is against the Marketplace fairness Act, ecommerce and marketplace platform rival Amazon is in favor, saying that it levels the playing field for all sellers while addressing the states’ needs without federal spending.