Burr Alert: Supreme Court Unleashes the Tax Kraken

Articles / Publications

For the last 26 years, Quill v. North Dakota acted as a default tax protector for out-of-state sellers and web-based businesses that had no physical presence in the jurisdictions where they sold and shipped products. As such, Quill provided that no state could compel a business to collect and remit sales tax for sales in that state unless the seller had a physical presence in the taxing jurisdiction. Thus, sellers without that presence who merely shipped goods into a consumer's state - often ordered from a website or catalog - generally did not collect and remit sales taxes in that state. No more.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court in South Dakota v. Wayfair ripped up Quill's physical presence protections when it held that mere economic or virtual contacts with a consuming state are sufficient for the state to require out-of-state sellers to collect and remit sales taxes. These sellers are now potentially at the mercy of each state (and district and territory) where their customers reside; early estimates point to retailers needing to accommodate between 10,000-12,000 unique taxing jurisdictions.

Download the full Burr Alert, "Supreme Court Unleashes the Tax Kraken"

Burr
Jump to Page
Arrow icon Top

Contact Us

We use cookies to improve your website experience, provide additional security, and remember you when you return to the website. This website does not respond to "Do Not Track" signals. By clicking "Accept," you agree to our use of cookies. To learn more about how we use cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

Necessary Cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. These cookies may only be disabled by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.


Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies help us improve our website by collecting and reporting information on its usage. We access and process information from these cookies at an aggregate level.