Ad Shows Media on Side of Sales Tax Fairness

On June 7, the same day Amazon.com opened its shareholders meeting in Seattle, Washington, the Alliance for Main Street Fairness (AMSF), a diverse array of retailers and trade associations, including the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the American Booksellers Association, ran full-page, national ads in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, and a local ad in the Seattle Times, decrying the online retailers attempt to evade its obligation to collect and remit sales tax in states where it has nexus.

While Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos defended his company’s actions in its fight against sales tax fairness laws, the AMSF ad shows that the national media believes it is time for Amazon.com to collect. The ad declares, “If you run an online-only retailer, your ears must be burning.” It then offers up quotes from a number of major newspapers, including the Seattle Times, the New York Times, and even the Paris Post-Intelligencer, which refer to Amazon.com’s position on the issue as “irresponsible” and call the online giant a “bully.”

“The Alliance for Main Street Fairness is committed to ensuring more elected officials and Americans learn that online-only retailers like Amazon.com are working to protect an unfair advantage in the marketplace, which allows them to undercut their brick-and-mortar competition by refusing to collect the sales tax at the point of purchase,” Danny Diaz, spokesperson for the Alliance for Main Street Fairness, told Bookselling This Week via e-mail. “We will continue to spread that message across the country in an effort to stimulate action that levels the playing field and defends the backbone of America’s economy: its Main Street businesses.”