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ICSC says momentum for marketplace fairness at an all-time high

Seven in ten Americans support legislation requiring sales tax collection at the time of purchase. This represents an increase of six percentage points since 2013 and eleven percentage points since 2012.

September 10, 2014

Today, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) released the results of a national poll that shows that seven in ten Americans support legislation requiring sales tax collection at the time of purchase. This represents an increase of six percentage points since 2013 and eleven percentage points since 2012, according to the ICSC.

"A significant majority of Americans support federal legislation and with precious few legislative days left in 2014 it is time for Congress to make Marketplace Fairness a reality this year," said Michael P. Kercheval, president and CEO of ICSC. "Americans from all walks of life and across the political spectrum overwhelmingly agree that the long-term economic health of their communities depend on a level playing field for all businesses."

The poll also found that 82 percent of Americans think collecting sales tax from online-only vendors at the time of purchase is easier, up by four percentage points since 2013 (78 percent) and seven percentage points in 2012 (75 percent). ICSC says this is the only national poll that has tracked attitudes among Americans on these two issues for three consecutive years.

The national poll identified a number of key findings, including:

• 70 percent of Americans support federal legislation that would require online-only sellers to collect sales tax at the time of purchase.
• 56 percent of Americans believe that collecting sales tax from online-only vendors at the time of purchase is fairer to local retailers.
• 82 percent of Americans think it would be easier to collect sales tax from online-only vendors at the time of purchase.
• 93 percent of Americans say local retailers are important to their community's economic health.

"It is abundantly clear that when Americans understand their current tax liability for online purchases they overwhelmingly support federal legislation that streamlines and simplifies the sales tax collection process," said Betsy Laird, senior vice president of Global Public Policy for ICSC.