Tobacco Retailing - Tax Evasion - Motor Fuels - Beverage Retailing - Store Operations - Positions

NYACS POSITIONS ON 2011 STORE OPERATIONS ISSUES

Stop inhibiting our ability to compete and maintain jobs.
   There are already too many product restrictions, labeling requirements, mandates, and other anti-business policies that stymie the ability of retailers and their suppliers to compete, stay profitable, and retain jobs. No wonder New York’s business climate consistently ranks at or near the bottom.
     •  State government should expend as much effort educating us how to comply with laws and regulations as it does enforcing them and penalizing us for non-compliance.
     •  If the State wants to audit us, come audit our actual records. Don’t just mail us a notice accusing us of under-reporting our sales tax liability based on algorithmic models.
     •  Reject new employer cost mandates such as wage inflation, paid leave, and additional coverages that make health insurance even more unaffordable.
     •  Agencies should process license applications swiftly so that qualified new locations can start generating sales tax revenue and employment as quickly as possible.
     •  Reject store-level licensing of non-bank-owned ATMs.

Quit nagging our customers about what they should or shouldn’t eat or drink.
   Government should give consumers the nutritional information they need, and then trust them to wisely exercise their freedom to choose food and beverages. With regard to products containing sugar, salt, and/or other targeted ingredients, our customers who consume them in moderation should not be penalized financially because some of their neighbors overdo it.

Give retailers opportunities to earn higher lottery commissions.
   Retailers licensed by the state Lottery Division to sell instant and on-line lottery games continue to receive the same flat 6% commission that has existed for nearly 25 years even though the costs and risks associated with selling lottery tickets have increased exponentially. Stores that have achieved impressive growth in volume by investing time, money and effort into promoting the lottery category get the same 6% as stores that just go through the motions. The commission structure should be modernized to reward retailer initiative and performance.

Give neighborhood convenience stores a lift, for a change.
   For far too long, our stores have suffered collateral damage from the State’s bad decisions on budgeting, regulation, and tax policy. Many have had to close, others have been deprived of the opportunity to grow and add jobs. It’s time for all that to change.
     •  Restore the sales tax vendor credit that was eliminated in 2010.
     •  Remove sales tax on portion of selling price represented by pass-through tax receipts.
     •  Raise the outdated $1 cap on the fee that stores can charge for cashing a check.
     •  Rescue retailers from excessive credit card swipe fees and acceptance rules.

Business Groups to NYS: Enough With the Tax, Fee Hikes (Sept 2009)
Report of Governor Paterson's Small Business Task Force (December 2009)
Poster
Lottery Policy of Settling Store Seller's Outstanding Balance
10/29/10 New York City Milk Carton Coding Regulation Transition
Proposed Suffolk County Prepaid Phone Retailer Requirements
Proposed Connecticut Fuel, Tobacco Tax Increases

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