November 2012
| Business World Magazine | 143
This very contentious issue deals with fees
merchants pay when customers use debit
and credit cards at the point of sale. “We
were trying to preserve economic freedom
and consumer choice while fighting to rein
in out-of-control fees and bring competition
to the broken electronic payments market,”
Chroust says.
Another one of RILA’s many focus
areas is promoting e-fairness, which elimi-
nates the tax advantage online retailers have
over stores with physical presences. In-store
retailers are required to collect sales taxes,
while many online catalog retailers are not.
“
In our opinion, it is simply unfair that brick
and mortar retailers, which create jobs in lo-
cal communities, face a tax code that puts
them at a significant disadvantage to their
online competitors,” Chroust says. “Govern-
ment just shouldn’t be picking winners and
losers.”
Consensus has formed around a so-
lution to the challenge – federal legislation
that gives states the authority to require most
retailers to collect sales taxes while respect-
ing individual states’ rights. “Making these
changes levels the playing field for all retail
merchants,” Chroust says.
RETAIL TRENDS
RILA works on environmental issues and
business practices, since sustainability has
been an emerging trend over the last several
years in the retail industry. Retailers have
discovered the triple benefit of pursuing
sustainability initiatives. By operating in an
environmentally-conscious way, retailers can
reduce costs, improve their brand image, and
help the environment.
“
Our retailers are leaders in the sus-