Shaheen, Hassan Move to Protect New Hampshire Small Businesses from Online Sales Tax Collection Requirement

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) reintroduced the Stop Taxing Our Potential (STOP) Act with Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), legislation that would overturn the recent Supreme Court ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. This Supreme Court ruling overturned a previous precedent, and will allow states to collect sales tax from out-of-state businesses. This new burden will hurt small businesses, which do not have the resources to navigate collecting sales taxes for more than 10,000 taxing jurisdictions across the country. 

“Imposing this requirement will force Granite State small businesses to navigate a new, complex tax collection system – this is both a financial and logistical nightmare for our businesses that already face enough obstacles,” said Senator Shaheen. “We need to make it easier for our entrepreneurs to succeed and grow, not more difficult. I’ll continue to oppose an internet sales tax collection requirement and work across the aisle to advance efforts that stop this burdensome regulation.”

“New Hampshire’s small businesses are at risk of mountains of new red tape because of a Supreme Court decision that could force them to collect sales taxes for other states,” said Senator Hassan. “In the Granite State, our economy is structured around not having a sales or income tax, and I’ll keep doing everything I can to protect our competitive advantage and the small businesses that drive our economy.”  

Shaheen successfully led efforts to stop the Marketplace Fairness Act, which was first introduced in 2011 to impose these internet sales tax collection requirements. Shaheen, a member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, introduced legislation with Hassan and Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) last year, the Online Sales Simplicity and Small Business Relief Act, to shield small businesses from the onerous internet sales tax collection requirement. Shaheen and Hassan previously worked with a bipartisan, bicameral group of members of Congress to file an amicus brief in the South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. case, in opposition to South Dakota’s argument. The Supreme Court’s dissenting opinion cites a Government Accountability Office report that was requested by Senator Shaheen detailing the burdens that a sales tax collection requirement will place on small businesses.

The STOP Act is available HERE.

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