State Tax Notes – Tennessee Officials Push for Adoption of Remote Sales Tax Regulation
Opponents claimed the issue isn’t so black and white. Carl Szabo, senior policy counsel at NetChoice, argued that numerous out-of-state online retailers are already collecting sales tax and remitting it to Tennessee. He also argued the rule would be bad for Tennessee residents because they will end up paying more in sales taxes.
Szabo also said the legislature should be acting on the issue rather than the DOR, a sentiment echoed by some committee members. He asserted that challenging Quill would be “an unwinnable lawsuit that won’t be resolved for many years.”
“The Haslam administration’s clear talking point was that this issue was about fairness for Tennessee businesses and their competition with online retailers, but they were careful not to focus on the fact that the tax revenue generated from this measure would be from the pocketbooks of Tennessee citizens — a point that was highlighted later in the hearing by Carl Szabo of NetChoice,” Carter said.