Bloomberg Law – Online Sales Tax Rule Dead, But Afterlife Murky
On the other hand, internet-trade companies like NetChoice were among those representing especially smaller retailers who expressed their distaste with the high court’s decision.
“While a fraction of online commerce was free of sales tax before this ruling, the Supreme Court has now created an even greater imbalance by placing far greater burdens on Internet shopping compared to its ‘offline’ counterparts,” Steve DelBianco, president and CEO of NetChoice said in a statement. “A brick-and-mortar business won’t have to comply with the differing rules of over 12,000 tax jurisdictions, or integrate costly and complex tax software into its operations. But small web businesses will, eating away at their already razor-thin profit margins. When these businesses disappear, consumers will be the biggest losers.”
Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel at NetChoice, told Bloomberg Tax that while some are celebrating the billions in revenue that soon will end up with states, those at NetChoice were upset about the billions coming out of the pockets of U.S. citizens.