Senate Reports Main Street Fairness Bills, MEDC Changes To Floor

The Senate Economic Development Committee reported a pair of bills to the floor that, if passed, would require the sales tax to be added to online purchases made by consumers through retailers with an established location in Michigan. The committee also reported as separate package of bills intended to streamline various Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) initiatives.

SB 658 and SB 659, commonly referred to as Main Street Fairness bills by proponents, cleared the committee 5-0, with Senator Hansen (R-Hart) and Senator Hildenbrand (R-Lowell) abstaining. Senator Mike Nofs (R- Battle Creek) expressed his apprehension to supporting the bills, but said he would do so in order to see what others in the full Senate thought of the concepts.

The Michigan Municipal League, Michigan Association of Counties, Michigan Townships Association, Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Michigan Retailers Association, and Amway also advocated the passing of the proposed legislation.

The changes made in the substitutes include new language to include a seller who sells “tangible personal property” as well as a provision that presumes a seller to have a nexus in the state if it uses its employees, agents, representatives, or independent contractors to promote sales to purchasers. It also defines sellers as having a nexus if they share management, business systems, business practices, or employees with the seller, or in the case of an affiliated person, engages in intercompany transactions with the seller to establish or maintain the seller’s market. Sellers are also presumed to have a nexus if its total cumulative gross receipts from sales for storage, use, or consumption to purchasers in the state exceeded $50,000 in the past year.

The primary target of the proposed legislation is Amazon, a company that profits heavily from sales within the state. It is not immediately clear if or when the Senate would discuss the bills on the floor.

posted by PAA Online , Friday, December 5, 2014 2:24 PM
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