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Capitol Hill Briefing

Internet Taxation: Should States Be Allowed to Tax outside Their Borders?

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Date and Time
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Location
B-369 Rayburn House Office Building
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Featuring
Featuring Dan Mitchell, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute; Adam Thierer, Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center at George Mason University; moderated by Laura Odato, Manager of Government Affairs, Cato Institute.

State officials have spent the last 15 years attempting to devise a regime so they can force out-of-state vendors to collect sales taxes, but the Supreme Court has ruled that such a cartel is not permissible without congressional approval. Congress is currently considering the Main Street Fairness Act, a bill that would authorize a multistate tax compact and force many Internet retailers to collect sales taxes for the first time. Is this sensible? Are there alternative ways to address tax “fairness” concerns in this context? Join us for a discussion with technology policy experts about Internet tax policy and the legal and economic issues raised by current legislation.