Wayfair decision grabs attention on internet interstate commerce. I just spent a few hours reading over the details of this decision and its implications. Both concurring and dissenting opinions reveal the complexity of this issue. South Dakota vs. Wayfair has to do with states collecting sales tax on internet sales vs. taxes collected on only local presence brick and mortar stores in the state. The migration of this ruling could eventually swing sharply into service businesses as well and this would be a further disaster for many small businesses. The issue of Stare Decisis, essentially previous case law affirmations at the Supreme Court of the US, add to its complexity where changes in commerce in the internet age has caused a hard look at previous decisions.
The old principal of keep it simple is long out the window in today's world of internet commerce. Eventually I believe, each state will go through legal wrangles and tangles and litigation volumes unlike we have seen in the past. It may be that some sort of a niche national sales tax accounting business or a national sales tax federal agency to track internet-interstate commerce and Commerce Clause related matters, would have to be established to thwart the massive 12,000 taxing entities throughout the United States. Interestingly, the yeas and nays on this matter are nearly equally divided between the two major national political parties. I have only a confused crystal ball on where this is going, if it ever reaches a nationwide agreement between all States. |
