03/11/2008
Testimony Before the Senate Ways and Means and Economic Development Committee
Mr. Chairman and members of the Senate Ways and Means and Economic Development Committee, my name is Ty Pine and I am here on behalf of the more than 25,000 governing members of the Ohio Chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business to provide proponent testimony in support of House Bill 429. I want to thank you in advance for your commitment and sensitivity to small business issues.
NFIB/Ohio is the state's largest small business advocacy organization dedicated exclusively to representing the interests of independent business owners. Our membership spans the spectrum of the business community, ranging from sole proprietorships to substantial, independently held enterprises. The typical NFIB member employs fewer than 10 workers and grosses less than $500,000 in annual sales.
I'm here today to ask for your favorable consideration of important legislation dealing with sales tax collections in Ohio. Ohio has been working with the governing board of the Streamlined Sales Tax Project for several years. As an organization, NFIB has worked with the Rep. Gibbs, Chairman Amstutz and the staff at the Ohio Department of Taxation to find solutions to the challenges created for smaller entities by Ohio's participation in the SSTP.
While the SSTP contains multiple components, NFIB has primarily focused our efforts on the issue of sourcing. For years the SSTP required vendors to utilize destination-based sourcing for intrastate sales transactions when determining the sales tax jurisdiction. This policy created a number of administrative burdens and concerns for small employers. Thanks to the hard work of the aforementioned and NFIB's advocacy at the national SSTP meetings, the governing board recently amended the SSTP guidelines to allow states to select either a destination or origin based sales tax collection system for intrastate transactions. NFIB supports the origin-based mechanism contained in HB 429.
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of House Bill 429, and for your continued work on this important issue. Ohio's small business owners thank you for your thoughtful deliberation on this matter, and look forward to a return to origin-based sales tax sourcing. I would be happy to answer any questions.
