My entire career I believed in good competition, but also that competition should be fair. Current government tax policy favors out-of-state Internet stores while penalizing those of us who own businesses in Georgia.

It's time for the federal government and state to reform the laws and ensure that Internet retailers compete fairly.

At issue is how retailers collect sales taxes, or more accurately, how local retailers collect sales taxes and online retailers don't.

Even when an online retailer has a physical presence in the state, they have claimed a loophole allowing them to avoid their duty to collect sales taxes. In Georgia, this has given them a big advantage when it comes to attracting a consumer's dollar, allowing them to mislead consumers that their online purchases are "tax free."

In reality, consumers owe the sales tax on these purchases just as they do if they had bought the item at a store down the street.

Many consumers are unaware of their tax liability and don't pay the sales tax.

That leaves them vulnerable to tax audits, where they will face fines if they haven't paid what they owe.

Instead of burdening the consumer, the obligation to collect sales taxes should be placed on businesses.

The real reason online businesses fight the requirement to collect sales taxes is because such a requirement would take away a huge competitive advantage they have over Main Street retailers.

Since many consumers wrongly equate "online shopping" with "tax free," it's clear that much of the online business strategy is predicated on exploiting this tax loophole.

It's time to end the government policy that favors online retailers over our local Georgia retailers. It's not right that a tax loophole allows a certain class of companies to undercut their competitors.

The definition of a competitive marketplace is that everyone must play by the same rules. Georgia's small businesses don't want or need government policies favoring them.

We need to repeal government policies that favor online businesses that have a physical presence in Georgia but aren't paying sales tax. Online merchants with a physical presence in Georgia need to have the same tax rules applying to them as apply to my business.

Other states have taken steps to revoke the special sales tax policy that favors online retailers. It's time for Georgia to follow suit.

Let's level the playing field for Georgia businesses. Let's make sure that every retailer with a physical location in Georgia selling to Georgians abides by the same sales tax rules. read more

Joe Mediate is one of the founders at Koo Koo Bear Kids at 12060 Etris Road in Roswell.