Albany — TechNet, the national, bipartisan network
of innovation economy CEOs and senior executives, and WE R HERE today announced
an aggressive campaign to activate New York voters to oppose a state budget proposal
that would make online shopping more expensive and push economic growth and
innovation out of state.

The Marketplace Sales Tax plan in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s
proposed budget would require online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy
to collect state sales tax from customers who are New York State residents
regardless of where the seller is located.

The first-in-the-nation proposal would make purchasing
items more expensive and make it more difficult for innovative companies to
grow in New York. The measure is opposed
by nearly 70 percent of New Yorkers, according to a survey conducted by Mercury
on behalf of TechNet and WE R HERE.

“The Marketplace Sales
Tax scheme would hurt New Yorkers, increase costs, and undermine the innovation
economy,”
said Matthew
Mincieli, Northeast Region Executive Director of TechNet. “This proposal sends a clear signal to
small and emerging online marketplaces: come to New York at your own peril.
We know the Governor and
the Legislature want to help the tech industry thrive, but this proposal is not
the way to do it.
We urge our leaders in Albany to remove this
proposal from the final adopted budget.”

Over the coming weeks, the coalition will contact tens of
thousands of New Yorkers and provide them with details of the proposal. These individuals will be encouraged to
contact their state legislators and tell them in no uncertain terms that they
oppose the Marketplace Sales Tax.

“The best way to come up
with sound public policy is to involve the people who are impacted directly,”
Phil Bond Executive Director of WE R HERE
said. “Whether it’s a working class
family using technology to make their lives easier, or the next Etsy starting
off in someone’s apartment, the Marketplace Sales Tax is bad policy and should
be rejected.”

New Yorkers from all regions of the state and across
party lines oppose this plan, regardless of whether the person shops online
often or rarely. New Yorkers also
overwhelmingly oppose candidates who support this proposal.

Under current law, artisans or merchants selling items online
collect New York sales tax only if the seller is located in New York. If the seller is located in another state, no
tax is collected from the New York State resident.

This new proposal would force eBay, Amazon, and Etsy, as
well as other large online marketplaces with offices in New York, to collect
taxes from all New York State residents regardless of where the seller is
located.

Here are the numbers:

  • 69% of
    participants oppose the proposal; 49% strongly oppose it
  • 68% of
    Democrats and 67% of Republicans oppose the proposal
  • 67% of
    New York City residents and 71% of Upstate residents oppose the proposal
  • 66% of
    frequent users of online shopping and 68% of rare users of online shopping oppose
    the proposal
  • 82% of
    participants said they would oppose a candidate who supported this proposal

The poll was conducted during the last week of February.

About TechNet
TechNet is the national, bipartisan network of
technology CEOs and senior executives that promotes the growth of the
innovation economy by advocating a targeted policy agenda at the federal and
50-state level. TechNet’s diverse
membership includes dynamic startups to the most iconic companies on the planet
and represents more than two million employees in the fields of information
technology, e-commerce, advanced energy, biotechnology, venture capital, and
finance. TechNet has offices in
Washington, D.C., Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Sacramento, Austin, Boston, Seattle,
Albany, and Tallahassee.