US legislators want to introduce a basis for a system as quick as possible, which resembles the European one stop shop system for internet sales. Foreseen is a process where the online retailers have to collect sales tax, according to the state the customer resides in. This new piece of legislation is called Marketplace Fairness Act. The proposal was submitted last week; the vote is expected this week. The White House as well as big online retailers are backing this proposal.

Outcome if the Act is adopted: Online merchants would be forced to collect sales taxes for all of America’s estimated 9,600 state and local taxing authorities. This might not be an issue for the big retailers but a near impossible task for the small ones. Additionally, it will be very difficult to force foreign providers to collect these taxes. The Act does not specify any simplification in implementation so to get a correct practice going will involve quite a bit of administrative work.