Rockville Centre business owners weigh in on potential online sales tax law

The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 21 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair will allow states to mandate a sales tax for items purchased online from out-of-state retailers — and many local retailers want New York to ensure that a sales tax is charged regardless of the sites that online shoppers use.

“For the local retailers who really support the local economy, it’ll level the playing field,” said Bruce Mirkin, owner of Accent on Eyes in Rockville Centre. “It’s not fair that you can buy something online and not have to pay tax.”

On July 16 — which was Amazon Prime Day — dozens of Long Island business owners gathered in Plainview to rally for a state law mandating online sales taxes. They also pushed for websites such as Amazon, Overstock and Wayfair to implement the tax before legislation forcing them to do so is passed.

While business owners said at the rally that they are confident that such legislation will be approved, because of strong support from a number of state and local legislators, they are hoping for a special session to address the issue before state lawmakers reconvene in January.

Mirkin’s South Park Avenue store, which carries a wide range of eyewear, has been impacted in recent years as internet shopping has taken off, he said. Though he is a seasoned business owner who has been in the same location for 15 years, Mirkin noted that local store owners are facing new challenges.

“I try to keep doing better than the year before, but it’s definitely a struggle, because there’s a lot of competition from different venues that we never had before,” he said. “. . . You’d think things would get easier as time goes on, and they do not.”

Denise Rosa, owner of Ka Pai Boutique on South Village Avenue, agreed that the growth of online shopping has had an impact on her business, and that a state law would help level the playing field. “Online shoppers like not having to pay sales tax on their items,” she said. “They become so accustomed to [ordering] something . . . [getting] steep discounts on shipping and they get it right away.”

The law passed in South Dakota after the high court ruling has stipulations: Out-of-state online retailers charge the tax only if they clear $100,000 in sales in South Dakota, or have at least 200 transactions with South Dakota customers.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said the ruling “gives a tremendous boost of confidence to local businesses that struggle to compete with internet commerce.”

County Legislator Arnold Drucker, who attended the July 16 rally, explained that a mandated online sales tax could help Nassau and Suffolk counties shrink their budget deficits.

“It would be a win-win all around. It would be a win-win for the state, for Long Island and for the community,” Drucker said. “America was built on brick-and-mortar stores. They are the middle class, and we’ve gotten away from supporting them. This could be a wake-up call to support local businesses.”

But Keith Linsalata, who has owned Rockville Centre’s Art Flower & Gift Shoppe for 27 years, said he was shocked by the decision, and that he believed the law would do more harm than good. Though he noted that charging sales taxes on online items may slightly benefit stores like his, he contended that it would burden the countless small online stores that have brought affordable products to the market by requiring them to do “layers of paperwork” to keep track of the new sales tax system.

“It will put a lot of these small mom-and-pop internet businesses that started from home in a garage . . . out of business,” said Linsalata, adding that as an Amazon Prime member, he would think twice about buying items online if the law passed in New York.

Linsalata said that although he recognizes that it has in some ways become more difficult for small businesses to compete with big-box stores and online retailers, the competition helps motivate him. “When I walk in my four walls every day, I’m focused on what I’m doing in my four walls to provide a quality product and a quality service to my customers,” he said. “If you’re laser-focused on that, you shouldn’t be worried about the other guy putting you out of business, because if you’re doing it right, you’re going to be successful.”

James Gazzale, a representative of the state Department of Taxation and Finance, said earlier this month that state officials were reviewing the Supreme Court decision.