The days of the tax-free frontier of the online shopping world have come to a close with the Senate’s recent passing of a bill that will subject online shoppers to state sales tax. The bill received support from Republicans and Democrats and was passed by a landslide. Under the former law, online sellers only had to charge sales tax if the store had a physical storefront such as Best Buy or Target. Sellers such as Amazon and eBay that only existed online were exempt from having to charge state sales tax.

The advantage that gives online stores is not fair, according to the Senate and other entities. “We ought to have a structure in place in the states that treats all retail the same,” claims Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation. “Small retailers are collecting sales tax on the first dollar of any sale they make and it’s only fair that other retailers who are selling to those same customers the same product have those same obligations.” But while Shay claims small retailers need online companies to charge state sales tax, small online retailers are strongly opposed to the new bill. So which small businesses do we listen to?

Online platforms have changed the way small businesses get to do business. In fact, the internet has democratized the ability to own your own business. And American consumers have benefited from wider shopping choices and competing online prices.

Why Small Retailers Should Be Allowed State Tax Exemption?

While larger online retailers that have to pay state tax because of their brick and mortar counterparts argue that small online retailers should pay state tax to even the playing field, the truth is small online retailers are operating at a higher cost than those giant companies. They are paying higher shipping and insurance rates that larger companies get bulk rate discounts on. Likewise, those online companies that also have brick and mortar store counterparts (brick and click retailers) do a lot more business because of their physical visibility. From 2008-2010, brick and click retailers increased their online sales from 33 to 38 percent, small online-only retailers saw their sales decline from 69 to 51 percent. Loading small online businesses with more online sales tax will further put larger corporations at an advantage over small online businesses.

Discrepancies in the Definition of “Small Business”

While the current tax bill exempts small online companies that sell under $500,000 of products, the Small Business Administration and foundations such as We R Here believes that the small business exemption (SBE) needs to be interpreted more widely to include larger online small businesses. According to the SBA, a “small” business is defined as a retailer with sales up to $30 million annually. Others argue that the small business should be defined by the number of employees rather than by sales numbers.

The online commerce platform has proven an empowering medium for small businesses that are better able to succeed without the hefty overhead of a brick and mortar establishment. More needs to be done to determine the fairest ways to handle state sales tax laws for small online businesses. We’ve already seen small and local businesses pushed out by large corporations in the physical world. It would be a shame if the same thing happened online.

Stacy Hilliard is an author for several business blogs and suggests Northeastern’s online MBA degree program.

By: Anne Chan

NYT > Dining & Wine

Could Themes of “The Sessions” Film Become Reality in France?

At the end of last year, an independent film called “The Sessions” portrayed the unique difficulties that people with physical disabilities sometimes face when having sex. The film was based on a true story, and the plot centered around a man who was paralyzed from the neck down due to polio, and wanted to be shown the basics of sexual activity. The film was critically acclaimed after debuting at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where it won an audience award. One of the co-stars, Helen Hunt, was also nominated for an Academy Award, and her role may have introduced many people to an unfamiliar field: sex surrogacy.

What’s the Difference Between Surrogacy and Prostitution?

At first, it may seem that there’s a thin line between working as a sexual surrogate and being a prostitute. After all, they both involve a person having sex for money. However, in a stark contrast to prostitutes, surrogates focus on educating clients, so that they learn skills to practice with intimate partners.

In January, the Huffington Post reported that a nursing home in Britain was spotlighted for allegedly hiring prostitutes for residents there. A former manager of the nursing home clarified the decision by reminding that people still have sexual desires regardless of disability or age, and in that nursing home, some residents were acting out by groping members of the staff. Although the decision was certainly an unconventional one, perhaps it did highlight a personal need that’s not often evaluated.

The Debate Heats Up in France

As reported by the Associated Press, the sexual surrogacy debate has recently reached France, after a political official named Jerome Guedj asserted that sex assistance should be included under the umbrella of social services offered to French residents. Guedj was set to take the matter to local council members, but drew criticism from people who tell that the move would bring momentum for legalizing prostitution. Now, the council has simply agreed to look deeper into the sexual life of disabled people. A matter that was once cloaked in secrecy or otherwise ignored has now reached national prominence.

The Legal Factors

The Associated Press article noted that Guedj would like to send a working group to areas where sexual surrogacy is permitted. This may provide clarification to the French about what works well, and what should be altered if the practice becomes legal in France. Switzerland and Belgium are two European places where sexual surrogacy is technically legal, but some officials cautioned that laws aren’t as clear-cut as they might seem. In many cases, legal guidelines were established to prevent criminal prostitution, and the emerging need for sexual surrogates throughout the disabled population wasn’t considered at the time.

France’s Minister for the Handicapped, Marie-Arlett Carlotti has stopped short of supporting Guedj’s idea of creating a working group, but welcomes a national debate. Although developments are ongoing, the attention could be favorable to disabled people who are struggling to fulfill needs, but are unsure of where to turn.

In the United States, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has admitted that although disabled people are as likely as non-disabled peers to be sexually active, some medical professionals assume that disabled patients aren’t sexually active, and may not begin discussions of sexual health and precautions with them. There have even been some national campaigns aimed at preventing sexually transmitted diseases that have failed to include disabled people in outreach efforts. Depending on what happens in France, the outcome could be positive for disabled people around the world, because it could remind the world that having a sex life is possible despite limitations.

Karen Alton is an avid blogger. If you’re sexually active and want to get tested in private, visit confidential testing centers in Fort Lauderdale.

By: Juvie Indiola

Is Peter Drucker Still Relevant?

Though he might have never been a household name, Peter Drucker is widely regarded as the father of modern business. The Austrian-born management consultant and writer has influenced nearly every aspect of how companies are run today, and he was famous for championing both the drive for profit and fairer treatment of employees. For decades, he was considered the world’s leading authority on management and what it means to run a business, before his death in 2005, one week before his 96th birthday. But the most compelling thing about Peter Drucker was that he was often ahead of his time. In 2012, the New York Times labeled him “a prophet for the workplace” and made the argument that his philosophies might be just as relevant now, or even more so, than they were in the past 60 years. How did Peter Drucker think? And what can everyone, from corporate CEOs to small business owners, really learn from him?

1. Drucker’s Management Principles

The Wall Street Journal Guide to Management presents Drucker’s five basic tasks for managers, which are the same today as they were in the 1940s, when he first started publishing. He said a manager needs to set objectives for both the short term and the long term future of the business and then decides what needs to be done to meet these objectives. The manager also organizes the division of labor and finds the right people for the right jobs. He motivates, delegating pay raises, promotions, and other incentives for productivity. He finds the right way to measure and appraise productivity. And lastly, he develops people. The WSJ claims this aspect of management has taken on new importance, and that more than ever, managers realize that people are the most important asset of a business. Drucker was a big believer in this.

2. The Knowledge Society

While Drucker died slightly before over a billion people were on Facebook, much of his later work was devoted to predicting the rise of technology. He called it the Knowledge Society, which he said began with the invention of the first digital computer in 1946. In 1989, he made incredibly prophetic statements about a “trasnational” future, where global communication would be at the heart of the business world, and you could do business with people across the ocean without ever meeting them in the flesh. He said that technology would lead to a greater push for efficiency in business and the rise of the knowledge worker – someone hired specifically for their superior understanding of a particular kind of technology, a particular marketing strategy, or any unique professional skill. Today, there are more irreplaceable knowledge workers in big business than ever before, supporting Drucker’s belief that people are essential to success.

3. The Role of Small Business

In creating a new business, Drucker posed three essential questions for every budding CEO to ask themselves. What is our business? Who is our customer? What does our customer find valuable? He thought the real way for a small business to succeed longterm was to keep the focus on serving the customer, with profit being a tool that enables you to continue doing that. As much as Drucker believed in developing your workers, small business owners in the knowledge society can also work to develop themselves and strengthen their own values, skills, and opportunities through hard work and experience. Drucker believed that small business played an important role in the economy through introducing new ideas and providing the customer with a diverse range of choices. A Drucker-like company is defined by the focus on the customer, but also by constantly learning new things and throwing out old policies and practices that haven’t been working.

Much of Peter Drucker’s work is timeless and can easily be applied to the businesses of post-World War II America and the technology-driven corporations of today. But he also made many notable predictions, believing that technology would not only change companies, it would change business philosophies. Managers of both small and large companies still have a lot to learn from him,not only about how to do business but about why they do business at all.

Writer Stacy Hilliard blogs for business sites. Interested in learning more about business theories and the way businesses operate and succeed? You may be interested in the mba offered at Northeastern University.

By: Anne Chan