Ohio voters oppose out-of-state sales tax collections as dictated by the Marketplace Fairness Act, according to a new poll from two organizations that oppose the legislation.
Likely Ohio voters opposed the idea of the Marketplace Fairness Act 56 to 32 percent. Opposition was consistent across the board, from Republicans to Democrats and across age groups.
“There is pretty wide bipartisan opposition to something like the Marketplace Fairness Act,” Andrew Moylan, executive director of the R Street Institute, a D.C.-based free-market think tank, said during a news conference Thursday.
Currently, states can only collect sales tax from businesses that have a physical presence — such as stores, warehouses or offices. Brick-and-mortar retailers have said this gives retailers in the booming online marketplace an unfair advantage.
The Marketplace Fairness Act would allow states to require out-of-state online and catalog businesses to collect and remit sales tax from residents. The bipartisan bill was passed by the U.S. Senate last year but has stalled in the House, causing Senators to introduce a new version this week.
Ohio lawmakers enacted language last year setting up Ohio to collect taxes through the federal law when it passes.
The poll also asked Ohio voters whether they would support a candidate in favor of changing online sales tax collection or one who didn’t — 53 percent said they’d support a politician who voted against the change.
The survey, commissioned by R Street and the National Taxpayers Union, polled 400 Ohioans who plan to vote in the November 2014 election on landlines and cell phones and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
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