Rhode Island Representative Brian P. Kennedy wants online sellers across the nation to collect the state’s sales tax when selling to a customer in Rhode Island, regardless of whether the seller has nexus in the state.
The representative introduced House Bill No. 7375, the Remote Sales Tax Collection Act, in January. It went before the House Committee on Finance on May 4th, at which time, the committee recommended the measure be held for further study.
Interestingly the bill states, “due to the ready availability of sales and use tax collection software, it is no longer an undue burden for companies without a physical presence in Rhode Island to accurately compute, collect and remit their sales and use tax obligations.”
Kennedy said Rhode Island loses more than $30 million a year because it can’t tax out-of-state retailers, according to an Associated Press report on WCVB.com.
The news wire said Kennedy’s bill would impose penalties on out-of-state companies that don’t comply, but added, “Republican Rep. Daniel Reilly, of Portsmouth, said it would be bad policy to threaten companies and create a whole new regulatory scheme just to prod federal action.”
The bill includes an “Imposition of tax on marketplace providers” and can be found online on the Rhode Island General Assembly website.
