Franz says Amazon Tax is bad for Michigan.

Rep. Ray Franz

By Rob Alway. Editor-in-Chief.

A new law passed in a late night legislative session last week will mean Michigan consumers will have to pay sales tax on out-of-state online purchases. This might seem logical, but State Representative Ray Franz believes it’s a bad move for Michigan.

Franz is a Republican from Onekama who represents the 101st District, which includes Mason, Manistee, Benzie and Leelanau counties.

He predicts the new law, known as the Amazon Tax, will cost Michigan jobs.

“A company like Amazon.com is built to collect sales tax and pay it to various governments,” Franz said. “But, it’s the small companies that aren’t going to deal with this.” He predicts that smaller companies will just stop selling their products to Michigan residents.

“There are a lot of companies out there that have contractors in the state,” Franz said. “Let’s say, for example, a company that sells blinds. That company might be in Nebraska but it has a service representative who is contracted to work with customers in Michigan. When that company stops selling its products to Michigan, that contractor is now out of a job.”

Franz said the anticipated revenue on the Amazon Tax is $53 billion. But, what has not been anticipated is the loss the tax will generate.

“It’s going to cost jobs, it’s going to cost business and it’s going to cost revenue to the state of Michigan,” he said.