Area representatives Tommy Head of Clarksville and Senator Bill Clabough of Maryville are working on legislation that would enable the state to collect taxes on online sales by large retailers. The two are currently working on a bill that they hope will be accepted by their counterparts.
According to reports, Clabough says the bill could bring into question a dozen incentives the state has given over the years to farmers and businesses.
Internet sales are a big part of business today in Seymour and all across the state. It is estimated that in 2001 alone the state lost over $360 million in Internet sales. Recently, a group of retailers began voluntarily charging online sales taxes in 37 states, including Tennessee.
The group hopes to strengthen the states efforts to go-ahead with online sales taxes and equal the competition between themselves and their Internet-only competitors.
“I think it’s about time. Look at all the income that would generate for the state. Why wouldn’t you need to pay the tax? It’s going to happen eventually anyway,” stated Bill Goss, a Seymour resident. Another resident that didn’t want to be identified disagreed. “We get taxed enough now. Why should I buy something on the Internet from a company in another state and have to pay sales tax on it? I say enough is enough.”
The reasoning behind the state’s initiative is to increase revenues from taxes, which are in a downturn in the weak economic climate. This has raised red flags with some residents, who note that raising taxes is not an effective way of stimulating the economy. A smarter move they contend would be to get the engines of business running at an accelerated rate, which would not only relieve pressures on state budgets but on the budgets of area residents as well.
“My question is, why can’t the government be held accountable for their actions just like private citizens are?” one local businessman asked. “If we as business people raise our prices, we go out of business – that’s not the same for the government. Cut the bureaucracy, I say. Remember it is our money.”
According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the estimated quarterly U.S. retail e-commerce sales in the 3rd quarter of 2002 were 827,461 billion dollars.

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