National retailers hail Supreme Court’s ruling in tax case involving online sellers
A national retail trade group applauded Thursday’s South Dakota v. Wayfair ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court allowing states to require online sellers to collect sales tax the same as local stores.
In its ruling the court upheld a 2016 South Dakota law that requires online merchants with more than $100,000 in annual sales to state residents or 200 transactions with state residents to collect sales tax.
The National Retail Federation argued in a friend-of-the-court brief last year that the court’s 1992 Quill Corp. v. North Dakota decision was outdated and that sales tax collection is no longer the burden it might once have been due to changes in technology. In the brief, NRF cited a wide variety of software available to automatically collect the sales tax owed, much of its available free or at low cost.
NRF and other retail groups said in a second brief filed this year that lack of uniform collection is “inflicting extreme harm and unfairness” on local retailers by “distorting the retail market in favor of absentee ecommerce.” The Retail Association of Maine issued a statement in March supporting the national groups in their court arguments.
National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay issued the following statement after Thursday’s court ruling was announced:
“Retailers have been waiting for this day for more than two decades. The retail industry is changing, and the Supreme Court has acted correctly in recognizing that it’s time for outdated sales tax policies to change as well. This ruling clears the way for a fair and level playing field where all retailers compete under the same sales tax rules whether they sell merchandise online, in-store or both.
“While today’s decision is a major victory, there’s still work to be done. Congress must now follow the court’s lead and pass legislation implementing uniform national rules that provide consistency and clarity for retailers across the country.”
Even with the favorable ruling, NRF said in a news release that it believes federal legislation is still necessary to spell out details on how sales tax collection will take place rather than leaving it to each of the states to interpret the court’s decision.
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