The American Catalog Mailers Association Inc. announced its central participation in a new coalition to oppose changes to a law that would overturn the Supreme Court-tested finding that state and local tax collections represent a de facto barrier to interstate commerce. The True Simplification of Taxation (TruST) Coalition, cofounded by ACMA and three other concerned industry associations, represents American businesses in the fight to keep interstate commerce free from unfair tax burdens imposed by states where these businesses have no operations or representation.

“The Constitutional right to sell across state lines is destroyed by more than 9,600 different taxing jurisdictions in the US, each with its own rates, definitions and regulations,” said Hamilton Davison, president of ACMA. “This is a nightmare for remote sellers, many of whom are mom-and-pop businesses without the sophistication to deal with this complexity.”

Responding to pressure by big box retailers, Congress is considering legislatively overturning the Supreme Court in action that could come as early as this year. Without true simplification in retail sales tax schemes, “the Supreme Court decision that tested this matter twice before in 1967 and 1992 should be upheld,” Davison said. “It is vital that the other side of the story be told as there are many misconceptions about this issue in Washington. This move seeks to cure state and municipal budget woes but in reality, this adds less than 1% to total state and local tax revenues while crushing two entire segments of commerce that fuel our economy.”

True Simplification of Taxation was cofounded by ACMA, the Direct Marketing Association, NetChoice, and the Electronic Retailing Association. In addition to advocacy, TruST will be an ongoing resource for those mobilizing against new remote sales and use taxes, which will slow and harm the growth of catalog and online retail. The Coalition is also launching an aggressive membership campaign. More details on the group’s progress to follow soon.