Poll: Kentuckians overwhelmingly support closing online sales tax loophole

Washington, D.C. – Kentucky voters overwhelmingly support federal legislation closing the online sales tax loophole.

Today the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) released the results of a Kentucky-specific poll that shows that roughly seven in 10 Kentucky voters support federal legislation that requires online-only sellers to collect sales tax at the time of purchase.

“Kentuckians of all ages, from different walks of life and across the political spectrum overwhelmingly agree that leveling the playing field to support the shopping center industry in its essential role as stewards of economic development and prosperity for their local communities is of paramount importance,” said Tom McGee, president and CEO of ICSC. “The findings show that a significant majority of Kentuckians support federal legislation and with precious few legislative days left in 2015, it is time for Congress to make efairness a reality this year.”

The poll also found that the current system, which requires brick-and-mortar retailers to collect sales tax and allows online-only sellers to avoid this responsibility, is seen as inherently unfair; providing a significant competitive advantage to out-of-state merchants over local businesses.

The poll identified a number of key findings, including:

• 71 percent of registered voters in Kentucky support federal legislation that would require online-only sellers to collect sales tax at the time of purchase;
• 85 percent of registered voters in Kentucky think it would be easier to collect sales tax from online-only sellers at the time of purchase;
• 91 percent of registered voters in Kentucky say local retailers are important to their community’s economic health.

“It is abundantly clear that when Kentuckians understand their current tax liability for online purchases they overwhelmingly support federal legislation that streamlines and simplifies the sales tax collection process,” said Betsy Laird, senior vice president of Global Public Policy for ICSC.

ICSC has promoted efairness for more than a decade, advocating that a “sale is a sale” regardless of whether the purchase takes place on Main Street, at shopping centers, or over the Internet. For more information about efairness and how the current sales tax system is unable to support the 21st century retail marketplace, please visit efairness.org.