Arkansas SB470 – Money Grab/Privacy Invasion, Part 2

This is a continuation of part-one of my discussion on SB470 which is now in the Arkansas House.

Hopefully, it will never get out of committee. Call your Representatives and Representative Brian Evans (co-sponsor of the bill) office at 501-941-4002 or email him at brian.evans@arkansashouse.org to let him know this bill is not in the public’s best interest.

SB470 is a money grab and a major invasion of privacy. It gives the State of Arkansas the right to sift through all your online selling venues to see if you are reporting your sales taxes and income taxes correctly. The true purpose of this bill appears to be a poorly masked money grab for additional tax revenue disguised as a consumer protection bill. This bill creates taxation hell for businesses and individuals. Perhaps the other reason Arkansas is going after third party selling venues like Amazon, is because we are in the land of Walmart. Is it protectionism and not a money grab?

Third party vendors like Etsy, are very much against this bill. It will require them to publish information that is contrary to current privacy laws. What about businesses who sell to Arkansans but are not located within the state? Does this apply to those entities as well, or are the people of Arkansas the only target.

Finally, SB470 may turn around and bite the State. Remember the fiasco with Kentucky and trademarking the state’s name? Businesses renamed instead of paying the licensing fees. Remember what happened when Arkansas could not get their act together with medical marijuana? Oklahoma enacted medical cannabis and allowed a temporary card for Arkansans. Thousands of lost revenue dollars because our legislatures are in some sort of fantasy land.

SB 470 will be a repeat of things past. Franchise fees and sales tax revenue will plummet as businesses flee the state. It is easy to move an online business. Arkansas borders Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. These states may prove to be more accommodating to small businesses than Arkansas. Small shops that cannot move may close or be closed due to tax issues. Individuals will stop selling through third party venues in order to protect their privacy.  

SB470 is a no-win situation for Arkansans and the State. Tell your Legislatures that they should vote no and keep small businesses alive in Arkansas.  Let me know what you think. Feel free to comment below. Keep it calm and respectful. I’ll delete inflamatory and off topic comments.