Montana Attorney General Tim Fox spoke out today, June 12, against the U.S. Senate's passage of the Marketplace Fairness Act, a bill which would require businesses to collect sales taxes for online sales based on the location of the purchaser.

"Washington DC is at it again with another overreach that goes too far," Fox said. "Congress is considering a bill that would force Montana businesses to collect the sales taxes of other states, counties and cities. This so called Marketplace Fairness Act is anything but fair for entrepreneurs in Big Sky Country."

Montana has a long history of opposing sales taxes, a point which Fox also highlighted in his presentation.

“Montanans have rejected a sales tax several times, and they certainly don’t want to be forced to collect the sales taxes of 9,600 cities, counties and states,” Fox said.

Fox announced that he was building a coalition to gather evidence against the bill, in hopes of proving it to be unconstitutional. At least two other Attorney's General have signed onto the coalition, namely Ellen Rosenblum (D-Oregon) and Michael Geraghty (R-Alaska).

Like Montana, Oregon and Alaska do not make broad use of sales taxes. Fox says that he spoke with all three members of Montana's congressional delegation and that they were also in support of opposing the Marketplace Fairness Act.

The bill will not become law until it clears the U.S. House of Representatives.

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