Catalogers Voice Their Opposition to Internet Sales Tax Law

Whoever named the bill the Main Street Fairness Act should get a Pulitzer prize for fiction, said Allen Abbott, chairman of the ACMA and former president and CEO of catalog retailer Paul Fredrick MenStyle, noting that the bill is unfair to the small catalog and internet retailers for whom the bill is intended to help. The media coverage of the Main Street Fairness Act, dubbing it the internet sales tax, has been remiss in considering the impact it would have on catalogers, who still receive a percentage of their orders (in some cases as much as 10 percent) via the mail, said Louis Geisler, president of AmeriMark Direct, a direct marketer of women's apparel, shoes and accessories. Those mail-in orders are subject to the tax as well.