In South Dakota v. Wayfair, the Supreme Court - in its infinite wisdom - decided that ecommerce had reached such a level that it was unfair for brick and mortar stores to pay sales taxes while internet companies did not. Though I agree that it is unfair, that is a legislative matter. The court doesn't get to change policy because the economy has changed. This new ruling is going to create far more trouble than it solves. If anything, it might nix a lot of ecommerce as companies refuse to do business with a vast number of localities with differing tax structures.
It is one thing for Texas to require Texas-based companies to collect sales taxes for all sales within the state, but now Texas can require Alaska-based companies to collect Texas sales taxes for internet purchases and forward it to Austin. Alaskans will be conscripted as tax collectors for a state where they are not represented. Hmm, taxation without representation?
The way to do this would be to have citizens required to report out of state purchases and pay the tax. Of course, there is no way the citizens would approve such a law. It is easier for state governments to strong-arm thousands of businesses than millions of citizens, especially since many of those citizens have a negative view of business.
Such consequential changes in tax law should not be made by a 5 - 4 majority of lawyers. The appropriate answer should have been to refer South Dakota to Congress to change the laws.
No comments:
Post a Comment