SALT LAKE CITY, June 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK) today announced it would resume using Missouri advertisers after Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of the recently enacted affiliate nexus bill. This bill sought to recruit remote sellers into state sales tax collection if they continued to use Missouri internet advertisers.
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According to Jonathan Johnson, executive vice chairman of Overstock.com's board of directors, "In recent years, several other states have enacted similar bills on promises of increased state revenues which didn't materialize when, rather than submit to the unfair burdens of remote tax collection, out-of-state retailers instead discontinued the use of in-state advertisers. In the wake of the Missouri bill's passage, Overstock.com ended its use of Missouri advertisers, a decision which the company reversed after the governor's veto."
Johnson added, "It is clear Governor Nixon has studied the history of these attempted end-runs of constitutional law, and concluded that a federal, uniform solution is the best approach."
Johnson also said that Overstock.com has been at the forefront of seeking fair federal legislation to uniformly resolve the question of remote seller state tax collection, but has strongly opposed the current version of the Marketplace Fairness Act, which recently passed out of the U.S. Senate without a hearing. Overstock.com has consistently pointed out that the bill does not live up to the "fairness" promise of its title.
"The company has emphasized that the bill in its current form will do nothing to stop the states from adding to their 'patchwork' of conflicting and complex laws among the more than 9,600 taxing districts nationwide. Under the bill, each taxing jurisdiction may disregard the bill and go its own way in forcing remote sellers to collect taxes – with or without any simplification," Johnson said.
Johnson noted, "We need a uniform federal solution that simplifies state sales tax collection, provides for fair compensation to remote sellers collecting the states' tax, and prevents states from ignoring federal law and trying to enforce constitutionally questionable state laws. We are seeing hopeful signs that the U.S. House of Representatives is listening to these reasonable suggestions. The leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives has signaled that the Marketplace Fairness Act will not be rushed through the House, as it was in Senate. House leadership has been open to meaningful fairness amendments and is also considering a different model structure aimed at resolving the states' tax collection problem."
Johnson concluded that the company expects several states, following Missouri's lead, will now turn away from the failed method of trying to craft their own solutions in favor of joint cooperation with the U.S. Congress and business to resolve these issues.
About Overstock.com
Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) is an online discount retailer based in Salt Lake City, Utah that sells a broad range of products including furniture, rugs, bedding, electronics, clothing, jewelry and cars. Worldstock.com, a fair trade department dedicated to selling artisan-crafted products from around the world offers additional unique items. Main Street Revolution supports small businesses across the United States by providing them a national customer base. The Nielsen State of the Media: Consumer Usage Report placed Overstock.com among the top five most visited mass merchandiser websites in 2011. The NRF Foundation/American Express 2011 Customer Choice Awards ranked Overstock.com #4 in customer service among all U.S. retailers. Overstock.com sells internationally under the name O.co. Overstock.com (http://www.overstock.com and http://www.o.co) regularly posts information about the company and other related matters under Investor Relations on its website.
Overstock.com®, O.co®, Worldstock Fair Trade® and Club O Rewards® are registered trademarks of Overstock.com, Inc. O.info™, Club O™, Club O Dollars™ and Your Savings Engine™ are trademarks of Overstock.com, Inc.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding present or future state or federal legislative actions and their effects. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 21, 2013, our Form 10-Q which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 25, 2013 and our other subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission identify important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections, estimates or forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Overstock.com