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In my recent op-ed “A Qualified Mess,” I described the many problems plaguing the “Qualified Purchaser Program” — a use tax collection program targeting small business owners. I invited impacted business owners to send me their feedback via a survey on my website, and I shared this feedback with my colleagues and BOE staff.

I also joined small business owners and taxpayer advocates at a press conference urging reforms to this program. This NFIB-sponsored event was well-attended and led to stories by CalWatchDog, Capital Public Radio, The Orange County Register, The Sacramento Business Journal and others.

The Board has solved a good part of the problem. Now it’s the Legislature’s turn to further fix this failed law or, better yet, repeal it entirely.

From the New York Times:

George Runner, a Republican member of the state Board of Equalization, said the proposed referendum would spare not just Amazon but thousands of smaller online retailers, which he argued could not possibly handle the intricacies of collecting sales tax for California, and other states starting to demand it, too.

“Some mom-and-pop company doing an Internet business out of their garage, they would be responsible for collecting sales tax,” said Mr. Runner. He argued, like Amazon, that California’s new law hurts jobs by causing online retailers to cut ties with affiliate companies in the state and to close subsidiary offices.

“They’ll say, ‘We’re not going to do our research for the Kindle in California,’ ” Mr. Runner said. “It just takes more jobs out of California.”

From CBS Los Angeles:

A former state senator on Tuesday called on voters to repeal a new law that requires some of the biggest online retailers to collect sales tax in the state of California.
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Runner said that projections has warned from the very beginning that revenue projections may have been on the overly-optimistic side.

“In fact, the reality is California is going to see less money because as these affiliates are cut off — not only by Amazon, but by literally thousands of other out-of-state internet companies — California is probably going to be losing about $150 million a year in income tax,” said Runner.

The relocation of such firms would also likely slash jobs across the state, he added.

From a recent e-newsletter:

The so-called “Amazon Tax” is now California law, and it’s already a failure. After having terminated their advertising relationships with thousands of California-based Internet affiliate businesses, leading out-of-state online sellers continue to sell into California without collecting sales tax.

Proponents of the “Amazon Tax” claimed it would “create fairness” by “leveling the playing field” between California’s brick and mortar retailers and out-of-state online sellers. They claimed it would generate $200 million in new revenues for the state this year. But they were wrong.

With California deep in debt, a controversial plan has emerged that calls for private vendors to monitor what you buy on the Internet.
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“This is just a fishing expedition as far as I’m concerned,” said George Runner, an elected member of the Board of Equalization.

Runner is fighting the Board’s staff proposal. CBS 13 asked him to explain how it was pitched to the Board:

“One of the ideas is well, we think there might be some people who will sell us data,” Runner warned about the proposal. “That will tell us what kind of credit card transactions or private transactions that a Californian may have made in purchasing something out of state,” he told CBS 13.