Christie Attempts To Tax Out-of-State Online Retailers

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has published his 2015 budget and it looks as though he has snuck in some legislation that looks eerily similar to the Marketplace Fairness Act. Governor Christie is looking to force out of state online retailers to collect and remit New Jersey sales tax which he argues will level the playing field. The problem with his logic is that the Governor thinks he can tax outside his state’s boundaries. By doing so he does not actually level the playing field but rather selfishly seeks to fill the state’s coffers at the expense of out of state businesses.

What makes this part of Chris Christie’s budget even more interesting is the state’s recent history with Amazon. The Country’s largest online retailer was able to secure grants and tax break in the millions of dollars from New Jersey as long as they were to build warehouses there. The catch was that New Jersey gets to take advantage of the tax revenue that having a series of Amazon warehouses will bring in. Now does that really sound like New Jersey is trying to level the playing field?

 

Read more about this here at the Daily Caller where Cassidy Golwick analyzes how Christie’s new budget attempts to sneak in MFA-like legislation.