The Virginia House of Delegates subcommittee on Finance voted down SB660 – a bill which required internet retailers to collect 5% Virginia sales tax for certain online purchases.
Subcommittee Chair, Delegate Tim Hugo (VA-40) stated that had the bill passed, up to 5,200 small internet retailers in Virginia could have been put out of business.
“Damage to small internet-based businesses would result in job loss and curtail the growth of the burgeoning internet industry in the Commonwealth,” he said.
Kudos to Del. Hugo and the rest of the subcommittee for keeping the internet free to grow and develop jobs and not succumbing to the very appropriate Ronald Reagan adage, “[G]overnment’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”
