Supreme Court to hear sales tax collection case
Source: Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to wade into the issue of sales tax collection on internet purchases in a case that could force consumers to pay more for certain purchases and allow states to recoup what they say is billions in lost revenue annually.
Under previous Supreme Court rulings, when internet retailers don’t have a physical presence in a state, they can’t be forced to collect sales tax on sales into that state. Consumers who purchase from out-of-state retailers are generally supposed to pay the state taxes themselves, but few do.
A total of 36 states and the District of Columbia had asked the high court to revisit the issue, which doesn’t affect internet giant Amazon.com because it collects state sales tax nationwide. But the case does affect other online retailers including Overstock.com, home goods company Wayfair and electronics retailer Newegg, who are part of the case the Supreme Court accepted.
Large brick-and-mortar retailers like Walmart and Target have long bemoaned the fact that they have to collect sales tax on online purchases because they have physical stores nationwide. Meanwhile, smaller online retailers, who don’t have vast networks of stores, don’t have to collect the tax where they don’t have a physical presence.
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By JESSICA GRESKO
53 minutes ago
Read more: https://apnews.com/1e0520534d704ecc8295a5590ae1135a/Supreme-Court-to-hear-sales-tax-collection-case
