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NH House Freedom Caucus
For Immediate Release
July 24, 2018

Contact: Rep. JR Hoell, 603-315-9002

New Hampshire House Freedom Caucus Says the Online Sales Tax Bill Lacks Meaningful Protections, Demands Real Teeth in Fight to Safeguard NH Retailers and Citizens

Concord – The New Hampshire House Freedom Caucus (NHHFC) today called the proposed legislation for Wednesday’s special legislative session ineffective. The proposal is sorely lacking meaningful teeth to block out-of-state taxing authorities from requiring New Hampshire retailers to collect sales taxes in the wake of the South Dakota v. Wayfair decision. NHHFC calls for additional provisions, such as the right to private causes of action by NH retailers and consumers against out-of-state taxing agencies, a prohibition on state and local officials cooperating with foreign taxing jurisdictions in collection of sales taxes, and the possibility of a constitutional amendment to remove standing in NH courts for out-of-state taxing entities to collect sales taxes.

“The proposed legislation coming before the Legislature Wednesday is not a roadblock to prevent out-of-state sales taxes, it’s a roadmap to tell the 10,000 taxing entities how to collect these taxes. While this law might stop some of the smaller jurisdictions from trying to come to New Hampshire, it doesn’t offer the full, robust protections that our retailers need. The goal of this effort should be to put up a real fight, not merely manage the slow decline of our no sales tax status,” stated Rep. Michael Sylvia. (R-Belmont)

“Legislators and the public still don’t fully know what is in this bill and how it would work. We are being told to ‘pass the bill to find out what’s in it.’ This legislation itself never had a public hearing and the process isn’t giving anyone the opportunity to consider other, stronger alternatives. While we support the idea of a special session to deal with this matter, we should slow this train down to ensure that the public and every legislator get a chance to try to make the bill better. “Legislating “on the fly” is a very poor way for our State House to pass laws”, added Rep. Len Turcotte (R-Barrington).

“The Freedom Caucus shares the desire to protect our retailers and citizens from the assault on the New Hampshire Advantage. However, we want to do so in a way that is comprehensive and forward looking. We want a real, durable solution that turns our state into the “Delaware of online retailers” and grows our competitiveness. We have a chance to do this, but we need to go far further than the current draft legislation”, concluded Rep. JR Hoell (R-Dunbarton).

The New Hampshire House Freedom Caucus is a grassroots organization consisting of legislators and private citizens, who believe in personal liberty and the traditional conservative “Yankee” values that made New Hampshire a great place to live.