Tester Moves to Protect Montana Small Businesses From Online Sales Tax

Senator: Montanans Have Spoken Against a Sales Tax

(U.S. Senate) – U.S. Senator Jon Tester is once again leading the fight against forcing small businesses to collect online sales taxes for other states.

Tester is reintroducing his Stop Taxing Our Potential (STOP) Act, which overturns a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that forces local businesses to collect sales taxes on behalf of other states when their residents purchase goods and services online-even when those businesses are located in states that don’t have sales taxes.

“Montanans have spoken, time and time again, against a sales tax,” Tester said. “This bill cuts red tape and makes sure Montana’s small businesses won’t suffer because of sales taxes in other states.”

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned decades of precedent by allowing states to impose a sales tax on products sold over the internet. The South Dakota v. Wayfair decision could put a heavy new burden on small businesses in Montana who sell products online, potentially requiring them to collect the sales tax and send the funds to the state where the customer resides.

As a result of the decision, local businesses could be required to collect and remit sales taxes on behalf of nearly 9,800 state and local tax jurisdictions across the United States.

Tester has been a vocal opponent of the Wayfair Supreme Court decision. He first introduced the STOP Act last June, a week after the controversial decision was handed down, and he pushed back against a proposed nationwide internet sales tax last spring.

Montanans overwhelmingly rejected a statewide sales tax at the ballot box by more than a 2-1 margin in 1971 and 1993.

The STOP Act is available HERE.