"This proposal is too late for Halloween but it still scares the heck out of small online businesses," said Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice. "What's scary is that this bill is a bald-faced tax increase for businesses nationwide who'd have to start paying states where they have no physical presence. Some businesses may figure out how to pass that tax along to customers, but it's still a new tax that's due from the business."
The bill will "unbalance the playing field between giant retailers and small business competitors," Tod Cohen, eBay's vice president for government relations, said in a statement.
Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant's e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com.
