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Cyber Retail A Double-Edged Sword For Ohio

Photo by ideastream's Brian Bull.
Photo by ideastream's Brian Bull.

It’s easy to understand cyber sales’ popularity. No more lines, drives, or battling crowds.

Gordon Gough, President of the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, cites a University of Cincinnati study that shows 45 percent of retail holiday sales this season will be made online.

But Gough adds that the same study shows a decline in sales tax revenue for November and December.

"The state of Ohio’s going to lose approximately $70 million in sales tax revenue," he says. "Many of the local governments fund their vital services via sales tax revenue, and if those dollars continue to erode, that’s going to be less money, and municipalities and counties will have to find other way, and that could be other tax increases.”

Gough says brick-and-mortar retailers also take a hit in staffing, and therefore jobs, when shoppers take their business online.

His group also wants Congress to pass what’s called the Marketplace Fairness bill, that would collect sales tax on all purchases.