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Halle Harrison
Professor Fielding
WRTC 103- Section 29
October 11, 2015
A Price to Pay?
The issue of sales tax in the business world has been one that is also in the way that
business can expand, In the world that we live in now, technology plays a big role in how we live
our daily lives and has definitely effected the way we shopped online especially items such as
Apples IPhone. This gave people the ability to surf the web from the palm of their hands.
Companies like Amazon, Overstock, and eBay. The introduction of QR (Quick Response) codes
that allow shoppers to look and even purchase an item. Even with all of these advancements, will
the bill be able to even the playing field or will it fall through for those it is meant to help?
Online shopping is still a recently new idea brought to the marketing world, and its reach
is no where near ready to slow down on its progress in world. Online retail shopping now
accounts for more than 10 percent of the discretionary retail shopping in the United States
(Internet Shopping). The role of the internet is forever growing at an exponential rate and
business owners are taking advantage of this as well as the states that the companies reside in
according to the article Among the countries largest retailers, 155 web-only retailers collect
sales tax in three or fewer states. This idea is what has most little shop owners boiling, making it
seem unfair to them that most of these companies do not have to pay sales tax on the goods that
they sell. Although some of the major online retailers have physical locations including Staples
and Apple. The bill not only effects physical businesses but also the ones who aren't doing as

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well as Walmart or Netflix it is estimated: [T]hat about one-third of online retailers under $10
million [in annual sales] will go out of business, if the bill became a law says Kevin Hickey the
CEO of New Stanton, Pa (Internet Shopping). These among other things cause debate on what
this bill would mean for business owners everywhere, but at the end of the day it is up to the law
to pass the bill.
The Market Playfair act is either seen one of two ways, the way to save the industry or
crush those who are barely making it themselves. While all of this is going on however the
National Conference of state legislatures and Governors Association argue that states are losing
billions in uncollected sales tax (Internet Shopping). Under this document, business owners
like Robert M. Sides owner of Family Music Center located in Williamsport, PA. The act is
supposed to level the playing field between all retailers regardless of physical address or if they
are only online based. Mr.Sides finds that small businesses are threatened by the fact that these
companies have this advantage of not having to pay the sales tax. Because of the sales tax small
businesses are usually forced to downsize because the online vendor usually has a lower price
than a physical location, with the act this special treatment is hoped to be eliminated. On the
other side of the argument is McKane Davis, President of scrapbook.com, he is also a small
business owner like Mr.Sides, but he disagrees that this will help smaller businesses, in fact he
thinks that the Market Fairness Act will do the exact opposite and harm them. He believes that
this act is not made make anything fair but to further bury the small business under more
legislation and taxes than they already are, eventually leading to the closure of the businesses.
The biggest fear for these owners is not having representation in the government for the
privately owned companies, usually in most states the responsibility is placed on the individual

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company it self to handle disputes dealing with liabilities of unpaid sales tax, requiring the the
owners of the companies to defend

Dontprogrammers,
let this beaccountants
the endand
of software
integrations.
Small
retailers would be forced to
someones
hard
work
pay in between $20,000 and $300,000 in
compliance the first year alone McKane
Davis, owner of scrapbook.com

themselves. All of them standing on a very

thin line, one small mistake could send the
company into bankruptcy and eventually into
closing. He sees it as: The latest weapon in

Walmart

s war on small businesses - McKane Davis ( Internet

Shopping 589). Potentially losing their businesses must
be terrifying and both of these men have different
opinions to save what is an important factor in
their lives, their livelihood. But as

Dont let the Market Play Fair Act take away

the lives of these businesses today.

technology begins to advance and

the use for physical locations are
becoming less and less needed in a
age heralding to technology, will

the little businesses continue to bloom as Mr. Sides is hoping

for or will this turn into another way to control smaller businesses as Mr. Davis fears that it will?
The author of the PSA is Halle Harrison and

Dont let the Market Place

Business act be the end of a
life long dream.

the title of the Poster is Going out of

business. With ethos trying to show the

symbolism of the business shutting down because of the Act that is in place, one that is
supposedly made to even to even the playing field. This reasoning for the argument of the con
side with McKline about losing their businesses and the fact that the one percent like the

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cooperation of Walmart making the small little businesses struggle even more than they already
do. The way that the small businesses already have a tough time of it in this market is being
highlighted by the fact of the government backing this act thinking that it will help save the small
business world.
As far as logos included in her PSA includes the fact that shes mentioning a law
mandated act by the government plus the fact that the issue presented is relevant to the economy
and how the market its self is effected by this. The use of the business in the poster is used to
show what could possibly happen to businesses if the act continues to be in effect, then people
will be left to defend themselves because the state wont help them and expect them to deal with
the short comings of dealing with un paid sales taxes themselves.
The pathos in this can be shown by the fact of the business closing from the short
comings of the bill not working for them, the business closing can perhaps be seen as the sight of
someones long and hard work being thrown to the wind. All of their work can effect the families
of these business owners. maybe putting the final nail in the coffin for people who might have
already been near the collapse of losing their homes. the emotions, blood sweat in tears put into
the companies they've built is hoping to be shown through this document.
The author has tried to show the emotion that can evoked through this topic, although it
may seem a topic that is very logical and straight forward, the truth is that the issue is just more
than black and white and just about the money, when in fact the argument presented has many
colors and can still be expressed through an image with a couple of words. The authors point is
not irrelevant since it can be supported by both ethos and logos examples from the document
enough to support what is going on in the PSA.

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Bibliography
"Free Image on Pixabay - Grief, Loss, Despair, Woe, Sorrow." <i>Free Illustration: Grief,
Loss, Despair, Woe, Sorrow</i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
Mantel, Barbara. "Internet Shopping." <i>CQ Researcher by CQ Press</i>. N.p., n.d.
Web. 10 Oct. 2015.