WASHINGTON -- Tax issues and data breaches topped the National Retail Federation’s highlights of 2014. Here’s a look at the federal policy activity that impacted retail in 2014, as summarized by NRF’s chief lobbyist David French:
Card Security
NRF won a major victory in the campaign to prevent data breaches and improve card security when President Obama announced an executive order in October directing government agencies to move toward PIN and Chip cards.
A more secure payment-card system has long been the NRF’s goal, and the president’s order was an important practical step to leverage the federal government’s purchases to lead the private sector toward a more secure payment system.
The president also called for coordinated action by private industry to move to a less fraud-prone system, including the installation of chip-and-PIN readers at retailers and the issuance of chip-and-PIN cards by banks. Retailers are making progress toward the president’s goal, but banks continue to drag their feet and offer less-secure signature-and-chip cards. This is definitely a fight we can expect to continue to be waged throughout 2015.
Unionization
Earlier this month, the National Labor Relations Board passed a devastating final rule on ambush elections. This attempt to expedite the unionization process comes after the agency blatantly disregarded established laws that govern the franchise model by recommending its franchisees should be considered joint employers with McDonald’s.
NRF continues to explore legal and legislative strategies to reverse these actions that can significantly change the American workplace environment.
Tax Reform
The Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 passed the Senate and House in just two weeks. The $42-billion package of tax credits in the bill applies only to the 2014 tax year, shifting the debate to comprehensive tax reform once again.
The bill does renew the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, which provides credits of $2,400 or more per worker to help retailers hire veterans and a variety of other economically or physically disadvantaged individuals into the workforce.
NRF looks to the 114th Congress to broaden the base and fix the current system that taxes retailers at or close to the maximum corporate tax rate of 35%.
Patent Lawsuits
Putting a stop to frivolous patent lawsuits that impede innovation was pushed to the national stage by President Obama during his State of the Union address. Months of debate for a bill ended in a stalemate, but a Republican-controlled Congress bodes well for comprehensive legislation that will stop these claims by patent trolls that cost legitimate businesses as much as $30 billion a year.
“Time will tell if the 114th Congress, with a Republican-controlled House and Senate, will enact change on a number of key issues to retail,” French concluded.
NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries.
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