Past Issues
- February 23, 2012
- February 21, 2012
- February 17, 2012
- February 10, 2012
- February 3, 2012
- January 27, 2012
- January 20, 2012
- January 13, 2012
- December 29, 2011
- December 16, 2011
- November 9, 2011
- October 18, 2011
- September 14, 2011
- August 11, 2011
- July 13, 2011
- June 8, 2011
- May 11, 2011
- April 13, 2011
- March 9, 2011
- February 28, 2011
- February 21, 2011
- February 16, 2011
- February 14, 2011
- February 7, 2011
- January 31, 2011
- January 25, 2011
- January 24, 2011
- January 17, 2011
- January 12, 2011
The Retail Advocate is published monthly, whenever important issues affecting VRF members arise, and weekly during General Assembly. Your comments and suggestions are welcome.
Contact:
George Peyton
(804) 662-5500
Fax: (804) 662-5507
Thursday, April 26, 2012
General Assembly Wrap-Up 4/26/2012
With the General Assembly over, the Virginia Retail Federation has some updates on significant issues for retailers in Virginia. The VRF had a very successful session and helped to pass a critical bill which closed the Amazon loophole. The VRF also helped delay a bill that would require Pawn Brokers and Precious Metal Dealers to take pictures of items pawned or sold, and stopped a proposed weights and measures fee, which would have charged retailers an $8 fee for each measuring device.
The VRF continues to monitor budget issues and tax laws. For more details about all of the bills the VRF has tackled, read below.Amazon Loophole Victory
The Amazon bill, SB 597, has now been signed by Governor Bob McDonnell, and will take effect September 1, 2013.This was truly a bipartisan fix to ensure a level playing field for Amazon and the brick-and-mortar retailers in the Commonwealth.
While the VRF would have preferred a July 1, 2012 effective date, the effective start date, September 1st, 2013, for collecting sales tax is better than what many other states were able to negotiate. To read more on our blog, click here.
Also, there is a similar push in Congress to level the playing field, please take a moment and send a letter of your choice to Congressman Cantor’s office and let him hear your thoughts on this subject. Find out more, here.
Budget Issues
The House and Senate have reached an agreement on the budget and it has been passed on to Governor McDonnell, who now has an opportunity to amend it. He will receive the budget on Thursday, April 26th, and will have seven days to revise or accept it as presented. The final date for approval of the budget will be set once a quorum of the Senate is present to approve the changes.
There were numerous issues in the budget that were controversial. Fortunately, the following three items, which would have cost retailers the most, were amended out of the final budget:
Weights and Measures Fees
The Weights and Measures fees, if passed, would have placed an $8 fee on each measuring device in the Commonwealth. For retailers, this would have meant each scale in a grocery store—most have a scale at every cash register and in many departments throughout the store—and each meter in a gas pump would have been charged this rate.
This would have been a substantial expense for all retailers with measuring devices. The VRF successfully worked with both Senate and House budget conferees to have the $8 fee removed.
Accelerated Sales Tax Payment
The VRF continued its efforts during the 2012 session to roll back the Accelerated Sales Tax Payment.
This payment required retailers with more that $1 million in gross taxable sales to make two sales tax payments beginning June, 2010. This year, with our continuing efforts, only retailers with $26,000,000 in taxable sales will have to remit an accelerated tax payment.
The complete phase out of the Accelerated Tax Payment will commence in fiscal year 2013. The payment amount should continue to be reduced and be fully eliminated no later than June 2021; however at the present rate of reduction the entire phase out will be much sooner.
Restaurant Fees
The Senate version of the budget added an additional $20 fee on top of the existing $40 fee to restaurants and grocery stores inspected by both the Health Department and Agriculture Department. The fee was eliminated by the budget conferees.
Pawn Broker and Precious Metal Dealer Legislation
The VRF lobbied in opposition to legislation that would have negatively affected pawn brokers and precious metal dealers in the Commonwealth. This bill would require dealers to photograph every individual’s photo ID who pawned or sold an item to their establishment. In addition, the merchant would have been required to take a picture of each item that was pawned or sold.
The bill was carried over for the year to enable all parties impacted by this legislation to develop a bill that will be easy to implement. The VRF will work with law enforcement and pawn brokers to create a bill that serves the needs of both parties.
Local Issues
Taxpayers in the city of Richmond will have an additional month to pay their personal property taxes. The City Council and Administration announced this on Tuesday, after bills were sent out late. To read more, click here.
To view what legislation was passed during the 2012 session, click here.
To view what legislation failed during the 2012 session, click here.
To view what employment related bills were passed during the 2012 session, click here.
To view what general business bills were passed during the 2012 session, click here.
To view what health bills passed during the 2012 session, click here.
To view what loss and prevention bills passed during the 2012 session, click here.
To view what tax bills passed, click here.
To view which retail issues are continued onto the 2013 session, click here.
Questions?
Contact:
| George Peyton gpeyton@retailmerchants.com (804) 662-5505 Mobile: (804) 334-2932 Fax: (804) 662-5507 |
Margaret Ballard mballard@retail-alliance.com (757) 455-9395 Mobile: (757) 406-9431 Fax: (757) 455-9332 |
Thank you for your continued support of retailers in Virginia!
